Bounce Rate: Keep ‘Em in the Store

Imagine that you own a small storefront business.  If day after day, customers walked in, handled one item, and walked back out the door, you would jump to improve the experience.  But do you realize that the same thing happens regularly to online retailers and no one even notices?

We’re talking about a web analytics measurement called “bounce rate.”  It’s a measurement of how many of your visitors leave your site after viewing only one page.  Let’s look at some ways to lower your bounce rate – to keep your customers in your store longer!

Clean Up the Shelves

In a brick-and-mortar store, products are sorted by type and sections are clearly marked; special items and sales are on end-cap displays; the aisles and shelves are organized and uncrowded.

Imitate those qualities on your website!  Provide guests a usable and intuitive navigation bar; have a space on your home page for top sellers or other hot items; keep the design uncluttered and readable.

We’ve all had the experience of going into a store with messy shelves, incorrect signage and crowded aisles.  Give your site visitors a place where they are comfortable and can find what they need.

Coordinate Your Signage

I read several newspaper and email ads from grocery stores every week: I’m particularly eager to find deals on ice cream.

It’s frustrating, however, to walk into the frozen foods section and not find the brand that’s on sale.  I don’t want some other name brand that’s not on sale or the store brand that tastes weird.

This can happen to your visitors.  They search for certain keywords and click on your store in their results, but they can’t find their search words anywhere on your page.

Use your site analytics tools to find out what keyword searches are sending the most people to your pages.  Then make sure those pages include those exact keywords!

The better you can match your content to your visitors’ expectations, the better you can keep them on your conversion path.

Additional Resources:

10 Ways to Lower Your Bounce Rate