One of the most neglected ranking factors in Google is the bounce rate. But, It does have a tremendous impression on lots of metrics that do have a direct influence on rankings.
For an e-commerce business, merely creating a website and putting up content will not increase the rankings in search engines. Measuring your digital marketing efforts to track records of all key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential.
If your site is not gaining the desired amount of leads and conversions or email sign-ups, probably the KPIs are not performing well. One such indicator you need to pay attention to is the bounce rate. A high bounce rate is concurrent with low lead generation.
Bounce rate is the proportion of visitors or customers who lands on a page on your website and leave without navigating away from it to other landing pages. It is different from the exit rate. Exit rate includes the percentage of people who leave your website from a page after visiting multiple pages on it.
The bounce rate is more complicated than the exit rate. A high bounce rate implies visitors are not finding the relevance or connection with your services. Here are some easy ways to help reduce the bounce rate of your website and increase its search engine ranking.
1. Optimize for Relevance
When a user/visitor enters your website, they try to find relevant content. The content, product images, and services must be in tune with your audience's interests.
Let’s look at some pointers of relevance inclusion.
Readable Content- The readability of web page content is important to hold visitors. An easy-to-read format with a precise message without complexities generally grabs attention. None of us want to go on reading any disorganized text. Keep the paragraphs short. Try using subheadings, bullet points, images, and charts here and there, and ask questions to get involvement.
Relevant Audience- Your business should reach the target audience to increase sales. Content plays a key role in this again. Prospective consumers demand good information. The focus should be to treat engaging, valuable, and educational content to allow customers to think along the same lines about a business. According to a database, 82% of consumers, on reading custom content, feel relevant and positive about a company.
Target Keywords- Another vital aspect of optimizing relevance is to target keywords that can offer high-value traffic. The keywords you select should complement the content for a business to grow organically. The bounce rate will go high if a site has a high ranking but doesn’t provide relevant content to the keyword topic.
Consequently, the business will lose audience trust. Select high-value keywords that support the content for a good reading experience.
2. Convincing Call-to-Action
Call-to-action or CTA is to make a site visitor take action and respond or reflect on the marketing message. After going through the relevant content, it is obvious to target for some action. Or at least make users check what is in store for them.
Create a convincing and clear call-to-action strategy on a website. It should be quickly noticeable to the user on a page. You can find some amazing examples of CTA to prompt users to click.
Ideally, a single CTA on one web page is preferable to avoid confusing customers. But if you wish to include more, do not overcrowd your web page. A HubSpot blog confirms that personalized calls to action perform 202% better than basic CTA.
Based on the data, ‘‘smart’’ CTAs do better because they consider several audiences' differences. Blog posts or web pages should address different requirements and include diverse CTAs separately through these channels.
Some CTA strategies to boost sales:
Locations on the Page- You can include a CTA in the navigation bars, at the side of content or the end-of-page.
Make CTAs easy to Find- Site visitors should be able to find them easily. The web page layout and changing the text on a button can bring a difference.
Communicate the Offer- Where will response to CTA lead the customers? Keep communication transparent. Make them aware of the type of subjects, how often they will receive the information, and whether it will solve their personal or professional problems.
Prioritize CTAs- If you have more than one CTA, prioritize them. The one having the highest priority should be easy to find and convenient to respond to.
3. Ensure a Mobile Friendly Website
By 2019, the number of mobile phone users worldwide will surpass five billion. This indicates the potential of mobile marketing. Customers using mobile phones, tablets, and iPad, access the internet primarily through such devices and look for different web experiences.
So, creating a website and optimizing it for these devices have become crucial for boosting sales. Failing to do so results in high bounce rates.
Furthermore, include engaging content for a mobile-friendly website. You do not want customers to enlarge the screen whenever they want to read something. If it is user-friendly and interactive, the bounce rate will automatically decrease. Including videos is one way of increasing interaction.
Ensure the videos are not too long to consume the user’s mobile data. A video explaining your products and services may entice your target audience more than reading about it. Small and large businesses can look for online learning software to create a mobile-friendly website and ensure a lower bounce rate.
4. Optimize Page Load Time
No matter how pretty or user-friendly a website is, all efforts go in vain if the page loading consumes a lot of time. If a web page doesn’t load within 2 seconds or less, the chances for the bounce rate to increase are high. Most marketers assume the content is to blame. But in reality, the problem arises when the visitor does not even get the chance to read it. Website speed optimization will influence conversion, visibility, and usability.
You can optimize a page load time by
Using a content delivery network (CDN)
Finding a possible type of hosting (shared hosting, V.P.S., dedicated server)
Reduce the size of images
Reduce the number of plug-ins
Minimize JavaScript and CSS files
Optimize database in CMS
Reduce the use of web fonts
Reduce redirects
For mobile devices, the load time is the deciding factor for bounce rates. Users are likely to leave sooner due to slow loading.
5. Make Navigation Easy
Lastly, for a good user-friendly experience, the website should allow easy navigation across all landing pages. Users look for effortless and clear directions to the product pages or services. Focus on a good website design.
For instance, when a user arrives at your site, they scroll through the landing pages and seek a page offering real information. If they cannot easily steer through it, they will bounce faster.
Limit distracting ads and pop-ups, and avoid other disruptions to offer a good user experience. Irrelevant ads are annoying to users. The trick lies in its placement on the page. Do not include unnecessary drop-down menus or other image links.
Generally, the sides of the web page are good for placing the ads to avoid distracting the user’s attention. Observe your site navigation and consider your prospective audience if you place ads. Find out how to do it without distracting or irritating users.
Conclusion:
Google analytics and other tools can help track user engagement to increase your website rankings. Optimize the user experience and try to increase the functionality of a site search. Take a holistic approach to reduce the rates and observe the alignment of the content with the user database.
Kimberly Clark is a content marketing specialist in IT & SEO, who helps clients increase their revenues by improving their organic traffic and building a powerful campaign through Google Adwords. She can be reached via email at kimberly@linkingaces.biz.
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