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Five Reasons Your Bounce Rate is High

 

So you're getting people to your website - cool! And your *bounce rate is upwards of 90% - not so cool. Your bounce rate is telling you a few things about your marketing efforts and and your website. First, if you are getting a high amount of web traffic, your digital marketing strategy is working. Second, if your customers are getting to your site and leaving immediately, something is wrong on your site. Here are five issues we typically see when a business has a high bounce rate.

*Bounce rate - someone who only visits one page on your website and then navigates to greener pastures. This metric is easily viewable in Google Analytics. 

Your Marketing Lied

Your marketing wrote a check that your site couldn't cash. You promised your audience one thing, but they got something else when they got to your site. Think of it like this - your blog post is about the new Star Wars movie, but your site is StarTrekFan.com. People who clicked on your post for Star Wars are going to get Spock and Captain Kirk. They don't want a pointy-eared man with a bad haircut, they want a majestic, hair-clad Wookie. They have no reason to stick around your site. So they leave in a hurry.

Now What?

They're at your site, now give them a reason to stay. You'll notice on a lot of content-centered sites that when you get to the bottom of a page, they'll have several other articles on a similar subject available for you to read next. This keeps consumers on the site and prolongs their visit. Your site should do something similar - link similar products or provide additional information about your company's products or services. At the very least, create a call to action to get the visitor sign up for your newsletter, follow you on social media, or receive your blog posts. 

Oh, and if you're selling something, you need pricing. Your consumers could be sitting there with a credit card out, ready to buy. Don't make them guess at pricing or wait for a quote. They'll go to someone who can process the transaction lickety-split. 

Tick, Tick, Tick

We live in a world of instant gratification. Information is accessible anywhere, anytime, and almost instantly. If your site loads slowly or is difficult to navigate, your customers will find another website that isn't. Test your site frequently to make sure everything loads quickly, and get feedback from customers about how easy it was to find what they needed on your site. 

It's a Mobile World 

Over 50% of web traffic is from mobile devices. What's the point of digital marketing if over half of your consumers can't view your site on their smartphones and tablets? If your site isn't mobile friendly, you're missing out on sales leads and revenue. 

It's Got to Be Pretty

Ever get to a website that looks like it was designed in 1995? Have you ever seen a site with blurry pictures and content riddled with grammatical errors? Did you come away thinking that company was a thought leader in the industry they represented? Probably not. Get some honest, third-party feedback about the appearance of your site. Looks really do matter, and if people don't like what they see, they won't stick around. 

If you want an assessment of your website or social media outlets, give us a call. We get fired up over Facebook and we tweak out over Twitter. Put our enthusiasm to work.