How to lower the bounce rate in Google Analytics

[bobby231]

A high bounce rate is bad if the success of your site depends on users viewing more than one page.

Learn the following 11 methods to reduce bounce rate of your website and increase conversions and sales.

1. Adjust the bounce rate of your website

The most powerful way to reduce bounce rate is to adjust it by calculating the time spent on a page.

2. Reduce the bounce rate of the web pages in the Profit Index

Profit index is a database of all the profitable pages on your website.

3. Stop targeting keywords/marketing channels which are sending low-value traffic

If your website is getting the traffic which has nothing to do with the products/services you sell then the website visitors are going to bounce the moment they arrive on your website. Determine the traffic sources which are sending poor quality traffic and then either stop the campaign or target the right keywords/ landing pages.

4. Create landing pages which satisfy visitor’s query

If you are getting the right traffic but your landing page doesn’t satisfy the visitor’s query then the website visitors are going to bounce the moment they arrive on your website.

5. Create landing pages which prominently display your ‘call to action’

If your landing pages lack ‘Call to Action’ (CTA) or do not prominently display CTA, then you will have the hard time keeping visitors on your website.

Headings, sub-headings and directional clues (to guide visitors to your CTA) are the excellent way of prominently displaying your CTA. For example, this blog post is about reducing bounce rate and this is prominently displayed through h2 heading.

6. Make your ‘call to action’ relevant to your landing page

Your call to action (CTA) can cause your visitors to come to your site and bounce. This call to action can be in the form of a button, banner, video or link on the pages of your site or some external site.

7. Develop contents which can be consumed in short span of time

If your landing page perfectly satisfy the visitor’s query but the content on the landing page is hard to consume in a short span of time then expect high bounce rate.

8. Use Virtual Pageviews or Event Tracking for Ajax/Flash-based contents

In case of Ajax/Flash-based contents/website, a lot of users interaction (like clicking on an image/link; loading of a page/flash video/pop up etc) take place on a single page. So in the majority of cases, visitors don’t need to browse another page(s) on your website.

Consequently, the bounce rate is very high. In case of the purely flash based website, bounce rate will be 100% all the time if users interactions are not tracked with virtual pageviews or event tracking. So you need to track users interactions through virtual pageviews or event tracking.

9. Create landing pages which are visually appealing and load fast

According to a recent research, a visitor decides in 8 seconds or less whether to stay or leave your website.

10. Develop a need to explore your website further

Every visitor who comes to your site has some purpose (like looking for a particular information, making a purchase etc).

When this purpose is solved or unsolved, he leaves the website unless you give him some other purpose of browsing your website further.

For e.g a person looking for information on your company may leave your website from the landing page if the landing page fully satisfies his query about your company. If visiting the ‘About us’ page is one of your goals then you can get 100% conversion rate but with 100% bounce rate.

This is one of the reasons why even top landing pages have high bounce rate.

Whether or not your landing page satisfies the visitor’s intent, you must always provide few more options to continue browsing.

11. Run page level surveys

If everything else failed and you can’t figure out what is wrong with your landing pages then you need to run page level surveys.

Add a thumbs up and thumb down button at the bottom of the landing pages (which don’t require a login to be used) to get instant feedback from visitors regarding their reason for bounces.

If your landing page has got a lot of thumbs down, then there is a problem with the content quality. Use Qualaroo to get instant feedback through page level surveys.

[braveluke]

A high bounce rate is bad if the success of your site depends on users viewing more than one page.

Learn the following 11 methods to reduce bounce rate of your website and increase conversions and sales.

1. Adjust the bounce rate of your website

The most powerful way to reduce bounce rate is to adjust it by calculating the time spent on a page.

2. Reduce the bounce rate of the web pages in the Profit Index

Profit index is a database of all the profitable pages on your website.

3. Stop targeting keywords/marketing channels which are sending low-value traffic

If your website is getting the traffic which has nothing to do with the products/services you sell then the website visitors are going to bounce the moment they arrive on your website. Determine the traffic sources which are sending poor quality traffic and then either stop the campaign or target the right keywords/ landing pages.

4. Create landing pages which satisfy visitor’s query

If you are getting the right traffic but your landing page doesn’t satisfy the visitor’s query then the website visitors are going to bounce the moment they arrive on your website.

5. Create landing pages which prominently display your ‘call to action’

If your landing pages lack ‘Call to Action’ (CTA) or do not prominently display CTA, then you will have the hard time keeping visitors on your website.

Headings, sub-headings and directional clues (to guide visitors to your CTA) are the excellent way of prominently displaying your CTA. For example, this blog post is about reducing bounce rate and this is prominently displayed through h2 heading.

6. Make your ‘call to action’ relevant to your landing page

Your call to action (CTA) can cause your visitors to come to your site and bounce. This call to action can be in the form of a button, banner, video or link on the pages of your site or some external site.

7. Develop contents which can be consumed in short span of time

If your landing page perfectly satisfy the visitor’s query but the content on the landing page is hard to consume in a short span of time then expect high bounce rate.

8. Use Virtual Pageviews or Event Tracking for Ajax/Flash-based contents

In case of Ajax/Flash-based contents/website, a lot of users interaction (like clicking on an image/link; loading of a page/flash video/pop up etc) take place on a single page. So in the majority of cases, visitors don’t need to browse another page(s) on your website.

Consequently, the bounce rate is very high. In case of the purely flash based website, bounce rate will be 100% all the time if users interactions are not tracked with virtual pageviews or event tracking. So you need to track users interactions through virtual pageviews or event tracking.

9. Create landing pages which are visually appealing and load fast

According to a recent research, a visitor decides in 8 seconds or less whether to stay or leave your website.

10. Develop a need to explore your website further

Every visitor who comes to your site has some purpose (like looking for a particular information, making a purchase etc).

When this purpose is solved or unsolved, he leaves the website unless you give him some other purpose of browsing your website further.

For e.g a person looking for information on your company may leave your website from the landing page if the landing page fully satisfies his query about your company. If visiting the ‘About us’ page is one of your goals then you can get 100% conversion rate but with 100% bounce rate.

This is one of the reasons why even top landing pages have high bounce rate.

Whether or not your landing page satisfies the visitor’s intent, you must always provide few more options to continue browsing.

11. Run page level surveys

If everything else failed and you can’t figure out what is wrong with your landing pages then you need to run page level surveys.

Add a thumbs up and thumb down button at the bottom of the landing pages (which don’t require a login to be used) to get instant feedback from visitors regarding their reason for bounces.

If your landing page has got a lot of thumbs down, then there is a problem with the content quality. Use Qualaroo to get instant feedback through page level surveys.

Bounce rate shows the percentage of visitors who leave your website immediately. It means the lower bounce rate number the better work you done! It's maybe nothing but what would change your online business career later.

You spent time and money on making interesting content. Your posts contain attractive images. Your theme has followed the newest trend. It’s when you realize that your traffic has started to increase every day. However, have you ever questioned yourself why most of your visitors still leaving your sites? The truth is that there’re still some background problems which you don’t really figure out.

[Crane]

And has anyone woked with one page websites? Google analytics shows 100% bounce rate and it is logic since the website has one page. Can I somehow change it and track real bounce rate?