Tactics to Lower Your Bounce Rate

One of the most heartbreaking parts of tracking your eCommerce analytics is viewing your bounce rate. For those who aren’t familiar, bounce rate tracks the number of users who visit your site, do not engage in any interactions, and then leave. While there are plenty of innocent reasons for bounces to occur, it isn’t ideal to have any users visit your website and find nothing that holds their attention.

Part of the reason many sites experience bounces has to do with user expectations. The modern user demands features and a dull website can lead to a lack of interest. Creating a user-friendly interface is a two-fold endeavor. You not only need to design an attractive page, but you need to develop features that make your interface user-friendly and give users some content that will hold their interest.

Design

They say there are no second chances at a first impression and this aphorism holds true for your site. When a new user stumbles upon your site, you need an attractive design to keep them there. Outdated websites are easily written off as being out of touch and most users, especially in the younger market, will not want to spend their time navigating an older interface.

If you are using a major eCommerce platform for your business, they likely provide options to improve your site’s design aesthetic. Almost all platforms include themes or are compatible with downloadable themes you can find online. These cookie cutter options are a phenomenal way to quickly update the look of a site for businesses that do not have the resources to hire a design team or would like a placeholder option while further design takes place.

A great way to find which theme is right for your business is to take a look at how other businesses in your field, or just websites that you admire, are laid out. While we don’t recommend stealing another site’s design entirely, inspiration can be found from many sources.

Features

The next thing that will keep users on your website is your suite of features. From easy to navigate menus to app compatible site components and more, anything you can do on your website to make things easier and provide a better user experience will benefit you in the long run.

The first thing to focus on is your site’s navigational tools. You want a site that is easy to navigate with attractive and well-organized menus. You can take this to the next level with custom menu options. No matter what navigation method you choose, make sure they are easy to find and use so visitors can find their way around your site without frustration. You can also streamline your site navigation by making sure your search function allows users to filter their inquiries for targetted results.

Another important feature for your site is social media integration. Making it easy for your visitors to learn more about your brand is crucial in a market where customers tend to spend a great deal of their time researching before they commit to a purchase. It will also increase your chances of having users follow your accounts, increasing the chance of return visits.

While is it tempting to include flashy features on your page, you should avoid anything that plays without being prompted. Music and video that starts automatically can be a huge turn off and will often increase your bounce rates as it interferes with the audio users might be playing while they surf.

Content

Last, but certainly not least, is your website’s content. If you want to think about your design and features as bait, then your content is the hook. No matter how well you draw users in, a lack of substantial content means you won’t keep them on your page for long. While you can lower your average bounce rate without improving the quality of your content, you will likely be trading a high bounce rate for a low average session time.>

Having quality content will not only keep users on your site, but it will build trust with your brand. Examples of good content include comprehensive descriptions of your business, content videos, and blog posts. If your goal is to turn users into customers, being an authority in your field is a great first step. Make sure that your site content is informative, interesting, and guides users towards your products.

If your website could use some improvement in any of these areas, turn to 1Digital Agency. Our experts specialize in making eCommerce businesses thrive. With developers, designers, and writers on our team, we can help you improve every aspect of your site’s performance.