Learn the meaning of one of the most important metrics when evaluating site traffic and engagement
Bounce Rate or Bounce Rate is the percentage of visitors who access a site and leave without accessing new pages or interacting with your content, making just one-page view. The higher the bounce rate, the worse the visitor interaction.
“ Bounce Rate ” is a term that, by itself, scares many people who have never had closer contact with Web Analytics.
Despite the fact that there is confusion and that many do not actually understand what it represents, this is a very important metric to evaluate the effectiveness of Digital Marketing actions and a great input to know what to optimize, where to optimize and how to optimize.
In this post, you will discover what the burst rate is, how it is measured, why it happens and even tips to reduce it.
What does Bounce Rate mean?
The bounce rate, or Bounce Rate , is a number expressed as a percentage that indicates how many visitors accessed a single page of your company and then left, without continuing to navigate to the next page. Every time that happens, a bounce is counted.
This definition is not absolute and may vary from tool to tool. However, it is the form used by the most widely used Web Analytics system in the world, Google Analytics .
It is important not to confuse bounce rate with exit rate. Both have different meanings and impacts. The bounce rate occurs only when a person accesses just one page of the site. The exit rate is a metric to show how many people are leaving the site from a certain page, regardless of whether or not it is the first page visited on the site.
Why it is important to monitor the Bounce Rate
All businesses should have specific goals on their sites. It can be the download of material, a budget request, the newsletter registration or the purchase itself in the case of e-commerce. And typically achieving that goal requires at least one click, which means that when there is a bounce, among other things, the site failed to drive the visitor to the goal.
By monitoring the bounce rate, your company can obtain information on the effectiveness of the calls to action and the message, for example, to think about optimizations and improvement plans to reduce the bounce and possibly increase the conversion.
In the case of traffic from Google Ads , the bounce rate is even more worrying, since a high rate means money wasted on clicks and consequently, an increase in Cost per Lead (CPL).
In addition, Google Ads now considers the bounce rate in the calculation of the ad quality index, meaning the higher the bounce rate from the landing page of the ads, the lower the quality index and the higher it will be. the cost per click of the campaign.
How to measure the bounce rate?
Many people often look at the bounce rate of the site as a whole. The problem is that this number does not show where the problem is in detail and, for that reason, it becomes difficult to think of corrective actions.
To better understand the bounce rate of the site, a more detailed analysis is necessary, such as the ones mentioned below.
Bounce Rate of Third-Party Links
At this point, it is interesting to individually measure the bounce rate of the main sites that bring traffic to your company.
It is generally seen that some fonts perform much better than others. In the case of sources that perform poorly, it is worth analyzing in depth why this is happening, which page receives these visits and which Call to Action is used, etc.
Depending on the case, it is even possible to contact the blog or site that has the link and ask them for a modification, for example.
Keywords Bounce Rate
If your company bets on the creation of content to generate traffic for the site or blog, then you should be concerned with the performance of the keywords that generate traffic on the site.
When we talk about keywords, we are not limited to only organic searches, but also paid searches like in Google Ads, for example.
Both ways are worth analyzing and, based on that analysis, taking specific actions to reduce the bounce rate of the most important words.
There are several actions that can be taken to decrease the bounce rate per keyword. One of them is to do A/B tests on your Landing Pages to discover if there is any element that is limiting the conversion and, as a consequence, increasing the bounce rate.
Another idea is to see if the pages to which visitors arrive via organic search have good content and good Calls to Action, as well as if they have adequate content for what the target audience is looking for.
The bounce rate of the most visited pages
The bounce rate should also be analyzed for each of the most visited pages on your company's site.
By doing this exercise, it is possible to perceive that there are pages with a lot of traffic and a high bounce rate, which ends up decreasing the value of those pages.
Suppose the most important pages of your company have a high bounce rate. In that case, it is worth reviewing them to see if the content is appropriate for the public if the offer (call-to-action) is attractive and makes sense or even carry out A/tests B with the intention of improving the metric.
Blog Bounce Rate
In the case of blogs, you have to be careful when analyzing the bounce rate. Many people visit the blog periodically to read the latest article and leave immediately, which does not mean that they did not like the page. They just know and follow the blog.
To make a correct analysis of the bounce rate of a blog, then, the bounce rate of new visitors must be analyzed, that is, those who have never visited the blog before.
If that is a high rate, further investigation is necessary to discover if the Calls to Action are not effective, if the words that are bringing traffic are well related to the content and if there is also an opportunity to take advantage of them for lead generation. content on the blog.
How to reduce blog bounce rate
And when is that rate too high compared to your new visitors? What should we do? Here are 5 tips that will help you reduce this metric and make your blog even better.
1. Create a good structure for your text
Keep your content short paragraphs: avoid more than seven lines in each. Think that your user needs a text with solid ideas. To do this, create subtitles and a continuity line in each topic.
Additionally, you can use bullets, like the ones we use below:
- They are good visual aid.
- They help explain the topic better.
- Order the ideas you want to convey.
2. Use internal links in your post
If you have content that can give your post more depth or even continue on points you don't intend to talk about in the text, creating internal links can be a good solution.
One tip: leave the command in the link so that it opens in a new tab. Thus, your website visitor does not need to leave the current post to go to the next post, does not lose focus on reading, and can still go further on your topic.
3. Insert CTAs (Calls-to-Action) on your
website
One of the main focuses of Inbound Marketing is to generate Leads, both for relationships and for sales. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage your visitor to become a Lead through conversions, that is, make the visitor fill out a form to leave their information in exchange for educational material, a test request, contact, etc.
And, to generate this incentive, it is recommended to use a CTA that, in addition to fulfilling this objective, makes the visitor collaborate with the reduction of the bounce rate on your blog since the CTA will take the visitor to another page, which will fill out the form.
4. Do not show everything in the index (initial page)
When it comes to blogs, there is a very common situation that contributes to the bounce rate: often, the texts appear in full on the blog home page (index), which means that the visitor does not need to click on the post. to read it completely. Thus, he leaves the blog having accessed only the index page.
To fix this problem, save the best for later: simply give a “small sample” of your post that shows it's interesting, and have your user click through to read the rest. Here at RD Station, it is necessary to click on the posts that are on our home page for the visitor to continue reading.
“Learn more”, “read more” and “click here” are interesting CTAs to get the reader to learn more and help you reduce your bounce rate.
5. Align your content with the expectation of your visitor
To reduce the bounce rate of your blog, one of the things that you must watch is that your content is aligned with what the visitor searched for, either on search engines or on social networks. For example, the title of your text should be closely related to the topic of your content; otherwise, when they start reading or viewing it, the visitor will realize that what you offer is not what they are looking for and will leave your blog.
Another example is the description that appears in the Google search result, called a meta description. It should also be well aligned with what your content offers. This rule applies to organic search, ads, social media posts, and email marketing campaigns.
In the example above, we googled an efficient structure for creating a post, using the technical term “outline”. The description makes a simple and objective summary that complies with the proposal of the RD station post.
Landing Page Bounce Rate
A good Landing Page attracts the expected content, aligning the visitor's expectation with what is offered, providing great results to the company that created the page. This applies to both conversion and a good user experience, ensuring user satisfaction.
We will cite 6 reasons why your landing page can have a high bounce rate and be abandoned before conversion, even after so much effort to promote it.
1. The calls to action (CTA) are not aligned with what is offered on the page
It is important not to frustrate the visitor the first time they land on the page. You have an expectation and a vague idea of what you will find when accessing the address and it only takes 3 seconds for you to assess whether or not the expectation has been met.
Make sure that the call-to-action (CTA) banner that brought the user to the Landing Page is aligned with the benefits it highlights and the content it offers.
2. Visual contamination
The main focus of the Landing Page should be conversion and nothing else. As stated above, the visitor has a few seconds of attention, so focus! Therefore, elements that tend to distract the user, such as excessive animations or links, should be strongly avoided.
Instead of long blocks of text, choose an image or video that represents your offer well, and keep the description shorter with resources like themes and numbers.
3. Your form is inappropriate
It may seem tempting to want to put up a form full of fields in the hope that visitors will fill in all that information and pretty much complete the job of marketing qualified leads to provide the best sales lead opportunities.
It turns out that the number and, mainly, what is requested in the form fields has a direct relationship with the bounce rate of your page. Most visitors are impatient, they don't have time, and they certainly don't want to spend time filling out forms.
4. Your Landing Page is not compatible with mobile devices
Internet access is no longer restricted to the computer. The use of mobile devices requires that websites be adapted for access from any device.
Have a Landing Page with a responsive design, which adapts to the resolution and orientation of the screen, ensuring good navigation and easy access to the content of the page. This will directly affect the conversion of the visitor.
5. The conversion button does not emphasize the benefit and/or is poorly positioned
When accessing the page, it is essential that the visitor see the benefit they will have after completing the form. Making tangible how you will be rewarded after submitting the form makes you more confident in your action and this greatly increases conversion.
The CTA is an essential part of the Landing Page: if you don't convince the visitor to click on that button, your effort with the other elements will be in vain. Depending on your offer, creating a sense of urgency can help, especially for B2C businesses, such as "buy now." Bright and contrasting colors also contribute.
6. The layout doesn't display what's most important right away
An attractive appearance adds a lot, but the important thing is that you show the most relevant information in the visible area of the page. In this way, you prevent the visitor from having to use the scroll bar to access data that may be decisive for their conversion.
You'll only bother to download the page if you're fully engaged with the content, and since the landing page is meant to promote conversion, it's best not to risk it. It is best to leave the main benefits visible, as well as the call to action.
So how do you engage visitors?
We need to drive traffic, new visitors, engaged visitors, and content that people actually consume. For this, it is necessary to adapt to the current behavior of the public.
You already know that most people cannot read everything they would like on the Internet. Now, it is up to you to adapt and experiment with different strategies to distribute your content. Thus, it increases the possibilities of its consumption.
Here are some suggestions designed for this context.
Newsletter
If the person does not go to the content, the content can go to the person. Sending a newsletter is a good option because it leaves your content "saved" in the person's inbox for them to read later.
Suppose the person does not read the newsletter when they receive your email. When you have time afterward, you know where to find the content easily. In addition, receiving the newsletter by email can combat the laziness factor.
You can go further and segment the newsletter delivery according to the interests of each subscriber. After all, the logic is that the individual prioritizes reading the materials that he likes the most. That way, you can engage someone without waiting for them to visit your site.
Review the structure of your content
People have a lack of time and an excess of available materials. So, it makes sense to facilitate the consumption of your texts. Create a structure that attracts more visitors, as different structures are consumed in different ways.
To facilitate consumption, you can make use of eye-catching and self-explanatory intertitles. In this way, the reader can quickly grab attention and discover which parts of the text are most relevant to them, increasing the chances of consuming the content.
On the other hand, you must create a structure that involves the reader more. To do this, you can review how the topics are presented in the text, the order in which they appear and the clarity.
In practical terms, it is necessary to make the topic and value of the text clear in the first or, at most, in the second paragraph. Therefore, you are more likely to hold the visitor's attention and curiosity.
Experiment with different content formats to engage visitors
Try to identify which content formats are most engaging and satisfying to your audience. Specifically, to address the context of the behavior you showed in the research, try to try formats that are practical, concise, and as instant as possible (without compromising on quality, of course). Here are some examples:
infographics
This format usually provides a lot of fluidity and speed of consumption. The most pertinent topics are structured following a logical line and the visitor's reading ends up being pills of short paragraphs, or phrases and numbers. Being very visual content, it facilitates the absorption of information by the human brain.
A common practice is to indicate in the title of the publication if it has an infographic or not. Search the internet for tools to help you create infographics, or use your favorite image editor. We like to use Canva .
Interview
Inviting an expert that your audience admires and doing an interview with them can generate more engagement and interest from your visitors. You can address a topic that was already on your agenda, but include questions and answers made to someone who understands the topic and that you think would attract the attention of your Buyer Persona.
Don't be afraid and invite people to be interviewed. The interview can even be done by exchanging emails or Skype, for example. Do you want to be even more secure? Ask your audience who they would like you to interview. To do this research, we recommend Typeform .
Audio
The human being communicates for much longer through sounds than through writing. We are increasingly used to communicating by audio on WhatsApp, Skype, and the consumption of podcasts and audio publications is growing outside and within the continent.
The logic is very simple: to read a text you need to pay all your attention to reading, including your vision and your hands. Now with audio, your eyes and hands are free, which opens up a great space in people's routines to consume content.
After all, in so many moments when it is impossible to read a text online, it can be heard, such as in traffic, walking the dog, practicing physical activities or simply walking down the street. To consume an audio post, the user simply presses “play” and listens to it, a simple and easy way to engage visitors.
