How to reduce the bounce rate — 30 effective ways. Part 1

A high bounce rate is used as a negative ranking signal by search engines such as Google. This means that if users leave the page quickly after landing on it, the search engines will typically demote that page down the rankings.

This article lists the most common methods that can, in most cases, effectively help reduce the bounce rate.

What is bounce rate?

Bounce rate is calculated based on the percentage of visitors who leave a website after only viewing one page. The user may have left because they found the desired information right away, or potentially if the website didn’t offer them the content they needed. To determine the bounce rate, Google Analytics takes into account user activity on the site.

Different search engines calculate the bounce rate differently:

In Google Analytics, it is calculated as the proportion of the total number of sessions:

• Bounce Rate = number of bounces / number of sessions
• A bounce is a single-page session on a site. This is calculated by Google when a single request to the server is made.

However, if you have event tracking enabled for your site, then any visits that don’t include interaction with certain page functions, such as submitting filled forms, downloading files, clicking on advertisements, playing videos, and more, will still be included as bounces if the user does not click through to another page.

Since not every website has a counter installed, search engines will use other data to determine their bounce rate:

• Length of time from transitioning to the website from the search results to returning to the search results;
• URL of the exit page. This allows search engines to determine whether there was a visit to another page within the site during the session or if the user returned to the search results from the same page they entered from.

Therefore, the bounce rate information from search engines and counters will not match. However, these metrics are proportional to each other, and counter data can be used as a metric that indirectly reflects the information that the search engines have obtained.

When does a high bounce rate matter?

A high bounce rate doesn’t always indicate low website quality. As sources from Google suggest, this metric is important if the success of your website is tied to the number of visits to more than one page.

A high bounce rate can also occur when visitors quickly find the necessary information on the landing page (like a phone number or price) and immediately leave the website.

The average bounce rate varies depending on the industry and type of website. For instance, according to Kissmetrics analytics, for a retail-focused e-commerce website, the average bounce rate will range from 20 to 40%. For a simple single-page landing page with one call to action (such as “add to cart”), the average bounce rate increases to 70-90%.

Since Kissmetrics is an American service, the data they provide applies to Google Analytics.

30 Ways to Reduce High Bounce Rates:

1. Identify and Fix Usability Issues

Your first step should be to ensure your website’s user interface is convenient and easy to use. Use specialized web analytics tools to track what parts of your page are causing users to leave quickly, for example:

• Page scrolling
• Order and feedback forms
• Outbound links
• Website functionality

Don’t just focus on your main page. Analyze any pages receiving high traffic on your website. Pages with high bounce rates can be found in the “All Pages” section of Google Analytics.

If you provide Labrika access to these counters, then this data will also be added to the “Behavioral Factors” report section of Labrika’s dashboard.

2. Create User-Friendly Navigation

Website navigation should be intuitive and consistent across the site. Ensure all navigational elements are visible and clearly indicate that they are clickable. Users need to understand that these elements will help them navigate to other pages on the website.

• Use visible menus: Research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that hidden navigation is used significantly less.

• Place the menu prominently: A classic option is a top menu directly below the website header.
• Ensure access to the main menu from every internal page.
• Consider a “sticky header” or “sticky navigation panel”: This keeps the top menu, contacts, or other important information constantly visible and clickable as users scroll down the page.
• Limit nested menu levels: Ideally, users should be able to reach their desired page within 3 clicks.
• Create a sidebar menu: This can be helpful if you can’t fit everything in the top menu.
• Provide alternative navigation methods: For example, create a breadcrumb navigation trail to help users go back to previous pages.
• Use a website search function: This allows easy navigation.
• Simplify navigation with tooltips: Help users understand the purpose of buttons or icons.

3. Use Internal Linking

Placing links strategically will increase transitions between website pages.

• Link to relevant content: If you have a blog, link to relevant articles. On commercial websites, link between similar and complementary products.

• Make the logo clickable: Link it to the homepage.
• Place links in the footer: Footers often contain links to contacts, terms of service, site usage rules, etc. You can also group links to different pages of the website by category.
• Create hash links: These allow users to jump directly to desired sections. Hash links (or anchors) are links that, when clicked, scroll the page to the specified “anchored” location. You can use them to create a table of contents with a list of headings and subheadings placed at the beginning of the page.

4. Create an Attractive Design for Target Pages

Ensure you have visually appealing target pages before launching any new campaigns. This applies to both your landing pages and homepage.

• Choose suitable color schemes and readable fonts: The background and text should complement each other, not merge or cause eye strain.
  • Color Psychology: Color schemes can influence users’ emotions and their perception of your products or services. Consider the psychological meaning of colors when making your choices.
• Optimize font size and family: The text on the page should be easy to read and understand.
  • Serif fonts: (e.g., Times New Roman) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
  • Sans-serif fonts: (e.g., Arial, Helvetica, Verdana) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
  • Font Size: For regular text, aim for a font size of 16-22 px with a line length not exceeding 75 characters. Adjust the size based on the amount of text – use a larger font for shorter content and a smaller font for articles and long posts.
  • Headings: Use the golden ratio coefficient (multiply the main text font size by 1.6) to calculate the size of headings.
  • Accessibility: Consider your users when choosing fonts. For an older audience or people with visual impairments, use a simpler, larger font or create a special version of the website.

5. Use Headings and Subheadings

Headings structure content and help users find the information they need. Most users will scan headings first to get an idea of the page’s content. Therefore, headings should accurately reflect the page’s content.

• Attractive Subheadings: Use long-tail keywords and hidden semantic words to create engaging subheadings. Use the autocomplete feature in search bars to find suggestions for these.
  • Example: If you sell wallpapers, type “buy wallpapers for” in the search bar to see autocomplete suggestions and similar searches.
• Search Engine Optimization: Use popular queries suggested by search engines to create headings and subheadings on your website pages. Labrika’s content optimizer tool provides ready-made recommendations for adding hidden semantics.

6. Specify Your Target Audience

If your site sells a product or service designed for a specific group of consumers, clearly indicate who the product is suitable for before users click through. This helps users understand if the page is for them and reduces bounce rates as non-target audience visits decrease.

7. Avoid Long Paragraphs

Users often skip long blocks of continuous text because:

• They appear boring and difficult to read.
• They don’t focus attention on the necessary information.

To make your text easier to read, use:

• Simple sentences
• Short paragraphs (ideally up to 5 lines)
• Numbered and bulleted lists
• Tables
• Bolding of important parts
• Images and infographics

8. Optimize Pages for User Queries

To make a page relevant to search queries, optimize the text for the target keywords.

• Analyze Bounce Rate: Use custom reports in Google Analytics or view the ready-made “Bounce Rate by Keywords” report in Labrika’s dashboard to check if your target page content matches search queries.
• Optimize for High Bounce Rate Queries: Find queries with a high bounce rate and optimize the page for them:
  • Ensure the page text is the appropriate size to promote the specific query.
  • Verify that the page aligns with the type of keyword phrase (commercial or informational).
  • Ensure the page depth doesn’t exceed your top 10 competitors.
  • Use the correct keyword density on the page.
  • Optimize the Title and Description meta tags, as well as the H1 heading, with the appropriate number of keyword occurrences.
• Use a Tool for Competitive Analysis: Use a tool like Labrika to analyze your top 10 competitors’ pages and receive recommendations based on the findings.

9. Add Relevant Elements Based on User Intent

• Commercial Pages: Include prices, product images, customer reviews, a shopping cart, a “buy” button, etc. Users will quickly leave if these elements aren’t present on a commercial website page.
• Labrika Competitor Analysis: Labrika provides a report listing commercial elements used by your competitors. This can help identify simple additions you could make to your page.

10. Publish High-Quality Content

Website pages should contain genuinely useful information for users, avoiding fluff and excessive keyword use.

• Overly-Optimized Content: Overly-optimized texts with unnaturally high keyword density and low utility tend to be difficult to read. This leads to users leaving the page quickly, increasing bounce rates and decreasing your position in search results, sometimes even excluding you.
• Use a Keyword Stuffing Report: Use Labrika’s “Keyword Stuffing Report” to identify any overly-optimized pages that may be harming your site.