How to Decrease the Bounce Rate on a Web Page

This blog entry was posted on September 8, 2009.

Bounce rate is the percentage of people who arrive to your site and then leave without going on to another page.  These are people who visit a single page and then “bounce” away from your site. A high bounce rate means you are not doing a good job of grabbing your visitor’s attention and encouraging them to stay.

What is a high bounce rate?  Typical bounce rates are 40-60%. But this varies by the type of website and by industry. What is considered average?

1. Content and Informational websites: 35-55%
2. Blogs and news websites: 55-75%
3. Retail ecommerce websites: 25-45%
4. Simple PPC landing pages: 30-60%

What can cause a high bounce rate?

1. Targeting or attracting the wrong prospect.
2. Your ad campaign does not match the page content.
3. Content is not interesting to your visitors.
4. Site design is poor or confusing.
5. There is no clear call to action.

Targeting: You should be targeting people most likely to convert. These are your target customers.  Do this with keywords, PPC ad writing and landing page headlines / landing page content.

Page layout / Design: Your page design should instantly communicate trust and your core message. It should be organized with clear navigation. Be consistent with other websites in your market and what your customers expect. Your business website design should be tasteful and professional.

Link Navigation: Provide a clear path to action. Provide an interesting link for your visitor to follow. On a blog this may mean adding links to related posts at the end of each blog posting.  Landing pages need a clear next step. Informational sites need a clear call to action on the home page. Something that grabs attention and makes them want to click the link.

Test and Measure: Measure your bounce rate with Google Analytics or similar tool.  You will want the ability to measure bounce rate by page. Don’t be afraid to experiment with headlines, content and improving your call to action. A good tool to use is the Google Website Optimizer which allows you to do A-B testing.

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Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Decrease Website Bounce Rate
2. Website Conversion Rate: What is Average?
3. 10 Ways to Improve Your Website Conversion Rate
4. Web Traffic Without Conversion is Like Food Without Calories
5. How to Maximize Your PPC Campaign

Filed under: Internet Marketing,Web Usability

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 5:21 am and is filed under Internet Marketing, Web Usability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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1. [...] from the page they entered on. A high bounce rate usually leads to a lower conversion rate. Typical bounce rates are 40-60%. This does vary by the type of site though. eCommerce sites will typically have the [...]

   Pingback by Web Design, Seo, Blog Marketing Tips » 5 Causes of a High Bounce Rate — January 20, 2010 @ 6:22 am

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