Discover the importance of the bounce rate in your web positioning
In an era of digital transformation like the one we are living in, having a website that projects the brand, culture, and values of the entire organization has become crucial.
In the last two decades, Ireland has gone from being one of the poorest economies in Europe to becoming the technological capital of the continent. This has been possible mainly thanks to its taxation, which has low corporate tax rates low enough for more than 1000 multinational tech companies from around the globe to have their European headquarters in Ireland. This has had a cascading effect, motivating small entrepreneurs to give a more digital focus to their organizations. Being more cost-efficient while making ourselves known anywhere in the world with internet access is an advantage for any company venturing to make that decision.
However, the creation and management of our website depend on many factors, and poor practices in these areas can have negative consequences, with one of the most common being the bounce rate.
What is the bounce rate?
Have you decided to create a website for your business, and when looking at the statistics, have you found that users who visit your website do not continue navigating? It's possible that they have only visited one page out of the many you have.
The proportion of visitors who access a page and leave without interacting with anything else is what we call the bounce rate. Normally, this indicates that the user did not find what they were looking for or that the site did not generate enough trust for them to stay. However, it can also be due to other factors that we will explain later.
It is essential to keep in mind that the optimal bounce rate depends on the website, as it will not be the same for a single-page site as for an online store. As Google Analytics support explains, the bounce occurs when, in the same session, the user has only accessed a single page of the site and exits without visiting any other. Therefore, if your site only has one page (what we call a landing page), it is perfectly normal for your bounce rate to be high. In contrast, if you have many pages and a very high bounce rate, your website may need a facelift or a restructuring of the design or content.
How does the bounce rate affect SEO or organic positioning?
To explain the impact of the bounce rate on the positioning that we naturally obtain on search engines (also called SEO), we need to know that Google cannot determine if the content of a website has the necessary quality for users or if it adds value.
So, what does Google do to determine the quality of a site and its content?
The search engine relies on the user's behavior when accessing that website. Therefore, if a person leaves the page without interacting, it is interpreted that the content was not what they were looking for, and thus, the keywords on the website may be being used fraudulently. This can be subject to penalty, reducing positioning.
Of course, there are many more factors, and as mentioned before, if it is a single page, other additional elements will be taken into account besides the bounce. Thus, Google attributes the quality of a website through user interaction, also taking into account the Click Through Rate (CTR) and the time they spend on the page.
So... what can you do to reduce your bounce rate? The first step is to identify why users do not want to interact with your website. Next, we'll discuss some reasons why this might be happening and a possible solution.
Reasons for bounce and how to prevent (if possible) the user from leaving the site
1. Unclear message
If a user comes to your website and doesn't understand what you're trying to say or offer, they are likely to leave instead of trying to figure out what you're trying to convey.
To prevent this, we suggest using titles to your advantage, with each one providing the user with a quick description of what they will find on the page. Also, keep in mind that your visitor wants information quickly, so you'll need to provide it as soon as they arrive and in the simplest way possible.
2. Pop ups
These elements usually do not benefit, as they can be annoying, intrusive, and interrupt navigation.
If you don't want to do without them, try not to display them just when the user lands on your site. On the other hand, do not take up the entire screen or block the view of the rest of the page: you can place them in a corner and in a smaller size.
3. Inadequate design
If your website's design is outdated or unattractive, the visitor will feel distrust towards your page, making them more predisposed to leave.
Some tips to avoid this can be to use soft colors and not saturate the website with elements: giving them some breathing space through something as simple as leaving white spaces can make a difference. However, the simplest solution is to hire a professional web designer, who, with their experience, can maximize your site's potential.
On the other hand, if your website looks perfect on a computer but does not display correctly on other devices, the user will not invest time in navigating. After all, if they can't see the content well, how can they navigate properly?
4. Lack of usability
Although at first, it might seem like a good idea to innovate with the structure of our page, the truth is that the user is already accustomed to working in a certain way.
That's why it is considered convenient to leave each element where the person expects to find it; otherwise, navigation can be difficult and confusing.
5. Misuse of audiovisual contenl
Today, most websites use audio and video resources to capture customer attention. However, not all of them make correct use of them. Frequently, either due to not paying attention to this detail or by forcing it to be this way, we see how the playback of a video or audio starts automatically. This is annoying for many users, and it also diminishes the sense of control (or decision-making power).
Avoiding these automatic reproductions, especially of sound, will allow the user not to feel obligated or saturated, eliminating the feeling of rejection. If we want a video to play automatically, it should lack audio, be in a 'background' position, and not have too much movement.
6. The site takes too long to load
One of the factors that generates more frustration in users and, therefore, tends to generate higher bounce rates is the loading time. We live in a digital age where we want everything instantly, and this is collateral damage for websites that take several seconds to fully display, especially when our competitors have pages that load instantly. If this penalty were not already a serious problem, Google also takes this factor into account when awarding positioning.
Solving this issue can be a difficult task because sometimes the problem lies in image optimization or technical aspects of the site or code. We recommend that you always consider the sizes and weight of the images and that you do not add too many animations or functionalities that you really do not need. If it is essential for you, contact a professional.
Reducing the bounce rate as much as possible is not an easy task because you first have to detect the cause. However, the Odoo content management system (CMS) can help us in this task. For example, the system itself favors a responsive design, being able to be viewed on mobile devices properly, and offers the possibility of seeing the design in real-time, allowing us to check if it is attractive enough before it is published. In addition to this (and among other things), it also helps with code optimization, reducing loading times, preventing the user from becoming impatient and leaving the page.
En Bakata Solutions tenemos una amplia experiencia y podemos ayudarte a crear tu nueva web desde cero o a renovar la que ya tienes para que tenga el mejor impacto posible. ¡No dudes en contact us!