6 Simple Ways to Reduce Bounce Rate on Your Business Website

There’s one piece of website traffic data that always seems to stress people out: bounce rate. This number tells you the rate of people who leave your site without engaging with any part of it. The wham, bam, thank you ma’am visitors. For businesses, this number represents the number of lost conversions. It can be scary and demoralizing if your bounce rate is high, especially if it’s unclear why your site visitors are passing through so quickly. But there is good news! If you want to reduce bounce rate, there is a way.

Increase Site Speed to Reduce Bounce Rate from First-Time Visitors

How many times have you clicked on a search result and gone to a website only to find yourself stuck on a loading page? Did you sit and wait, or go back to find what you want on a different site?

Slow site speed usually happens on the hosting end of your website. If you like your hosting provider, you may need to upgrade your service with them to increase your load speed. Otherwise, you might want to consider shopping around for a new host provider. There are other factors on your end you can address, such as downsizing your images or opting for simple graphics instead of photos. This is also another area where it’s important to make sure your site is optimized to display on mobile devices.

Start Selling Products to a New Audience

If your business sells a service–like SEO support or social media management–you might think this option isn’t for you. But think about your site visitors. Your marketing efforts likely focus on appealing to people who need your service. They go to your site and quickly judge whether they want to know more or click away without going any further.

But if you add a few promotional products for sale, that changes. Promoting products draws in traffic and attention you might otherwise miss out on. One person interested in one product will probably visit other pages to see what else you offer and learn about the person behind the product.

There are overhead costs involved with selling merchandise, so this requires careful planning and budgeting. Start with a small batch so you don’t have a lot of unsold stock cluttering your workspace. But the good news is this is another avenue to generate income. Plus, every time someone uses one of these products, they flash your logo, business name, or even contact points. You just need to visit a promotional merchandise website to find out what type of products you could offer to your customers. 

Keep Content Fresh and Engaging

Content has and will always be king. But it’s not enough to put up one or two great articles and rely on those forever. If a visitor comes to your site and sees nothing has changed, there’s no reason for them to look further. This is why many businesses maintain a blog. It’s a great way to keep your audience up to date on what’s new with your business and offer glimpses behind the scenes. If you don’t have enough time to regularly generate new content for your site, consider outsourcing the work to a professional. 

Update Your Site for Best Practices

Updates to your site don’t end with announcements and blog posts. Upgrading your site over time includes revising your calls to action, company messaging, brand image, etc. As best practices in web design and digital marketing evolve and change, you need to adapt. Old strategies lose their effectiveness. New competitors emerge over time. If you only stick with what worked for you in the past, you could fall behind.

Better Site Structure Means Better Bounce Rate

Your website’s structure determines how your content is organized–and how easy or difficult it is for visitors to navigate. If a person has to click through multiple pages to find what they want, they’ll get frustrated and leave. Worse, if it’s not clear where to begin clicking, they won’t even bother trying! This isn’t just bad for you conversions, either. Poor site structure can negatively affect your search engine rankings, making it less likely for people to visit your site in the first place.

The general rule of thumb is to ensure visitors, customers, and clients are never more than three clicks away from what they’re looking for.

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Add A Video Introduction

Finally, consider adding a video introduction to your business website’s homepage. This offers a slightly more personal connection for site visitors–especially if you feature the people/person behind the business! It can also help explain niche products or services people might not realize would help them. If you choose to add a video, it’s worth your while to invest in making it as professional as possible. You always want to make the best impression possible.