Anybody who has spent a few moments managing their website will have heard about SEO (search engine optimization). They want to know how to optimize their website for search engines. One of the most important factors to consider is one’s bounce rate. A high bounce rate means people leave your site after viewing one page. A lower bounce rate will indicate that after looking at one page, they moved onto another with related content. An efficient website keeps users interested and draws them to look at other pages. You can improve your website’s bounce rate in a few easy steps.
What is a bounce rate? It is the rate at which a website visitor leaves your site. A high bounce rate means people leave your site after viewing one page (or a few seconds of viewing). A lower bounce rate will indicate that after looking at one page, they moved on to another with related content. An efficient website keeps users interested and draws them to look at other pages (lower bounce rate). You can improve your website’s bounce rate in a few easy steps.
Fortunately, you can improve your website’s bounce rate in a few easy steps. We are here to get you going with those first few steps.
Tip #1: Install A Plugin
Sometimes people will come to your website and find helpful information, but then they will leave after looking at just one page because they were not prompted to look at another page. They were not prompted to continue searching. Many website owners will install a plugin on their website that will link to related content on the bottom of every post. When somebody finishes reading one article, they will be directed to another one with similar or related content.
One of my favorite plugins and one that gives me some level of success is called TrendDemon. I wrote an article about it over at Basic Blog Tips: How to Set Up TrenDemon on WordPress to Increase Website Traffic. It is not necessarily the easiest plugin to understand, but once you master it, you will be glad you gave it a shot, especially when it comes to your bounce rate!
Tip #2: Relevant Content
When people are searching for a particular keyword, they want to find the answer to their question. That is what they are seeking. This means that if they come to your website after finding your site based on a particular desired keyword, but don’t find the content they are seeking, they are going to quickly go back to the search engine and continue searching and browsing until the find what they want. This will increase the bounce rate statistic on YOUR site. When you choose a keyword, ensure that you provide relevant and clear information. Clarity is just as important as relevance. If the user does not understand what you are saying, they are going to go back and find a website that they can understand.
To mitigate this, ensure that you choose a keyword and keywords (and phrases) that are relevant to what your site offers to your visitors. Ensure that your content is relevant. Clarity is just as important as relevance. If the user does not understand what you are saying, they are going to go back and find a website that they can understand. That will only add to that bounce rate and that isn’t what you want, is it?
Tip #3: Call To Action
If somebody comes to your page and reads your content, they may find it helpful, but at this point, all that they have done is use your website as an informational outlet. That may be your goal. Great!
However, let’s stop and think about this for a moment… I’m not criticizing your goal of having visitors reading an article, but think about what that does for your stats, and specifically that bounce rate. When you are attempting to obtain an advertiser who will pay you money for their ad on your site and they see that bounce rate, they may keep on going (with their wallet closed and remaining in their back pocket).
You see it as reaching your goal and objective (visitors reading your article). Your potential income source views it as your visitors leaving your site TOO SOON and not a viable audience for their advertising dollars.
So, we need to look at the big picture. One way to do that is to expand our goals. Let’s keep the goal of reading the article, but let’s add a newsletter subscription or maybe an ebook download or some other action that helps to demonstrate engagement between you (your site) and your visitors. This will translate (stats) for your advertisers, as well as for your own business success.
Conclusion? >> Action Step
End your article with a strong call to action that directs them to another page on your site (this will be particularly helpful if you are selling a product).
image credit: stockphoto.com
