How to Handle Bad Bounce Rates and Not Lose Your Cool

You're looking at your latest Google analytics report and you get to the audience overview and your heart stops: your bounce rate is ridiculously high! Unless you're selling trampolines, this is bad news because it means people hate your website and they're leaving without interacting with your pages. Don't panic just yet, your Edmonton web designers have got you. We're going to help you get a handle on bad bounce rates.

The Nitty Gritty on Bounce Rates

Google defines bounce rates as the percentage of single-page sessions, which means the percentage of visitors who leave your site after arriving and perhaps reading the landing page, but not actually interacting with the page in any way. What a high bounce rate means is that all that content you've worked on so hard is no good and people hate your site, right? Don't lose your cool just yet! Bounce rates are not necessarily the end of the world and you should really think of them as a tool in your arsenal because not all high bounce rates are created equally.

Moments Where High Bounce Rates Are Actually a Good Thing

Sometimes high bounce rates are a great thing and not a sign that your website is disliked by visitors. Since landing pages are designed with a goal in mind, you have to look at the bounce rates and what your call-to-action was for each listed page. Here are two examples where high bounce rates are actually awesome:

• Call now to place your order! - You've asked the visitor to call you, not to browse your website. If your phone has been ringing but your bounce rate is high, your page is performing as intended.
• Give us your email address and we'll send your free sample! - If your visitors don't have to leave the page to fill out your form, it's considered a bounce even if they provide their email. Getting that qualified lead was the goal so again, the high bounce rate isn't anything to worry about.

Before you hit the panic button and lose your cool, look at what your landing page was supposed to accomplish and see if it's working they way you want it too. If it ism then there's nothing you need to worry about.

When High Bounce Rates Go Bad

When your landing pages don't contain specific CTAs, but encourage your visitors to visit another page to continue on the buyer's journey and your bounce rates are high, then it's time to dive into your analytics. There are several different factors that can be behind a high bounce rate:

• Tracking codes for your site are not added to all of your pages, so you aren't tracking all of the traffic to your site
• The keywords bringing visitors to your site aren't relevant or your content doesn't provide the information expected when searching those keywords
• Your landing pages need to be re-worked
• Your website needs a new design to make it more appealing or to load faster on mobile devices

If your bounce rates are higher than 70% then you need to look into possible issues that need to be fixed and Edmonton web designers can help you figure out what the issues might be. It's worth mentioning that a bounce rate below 25% usually indicates an issue with your analytics setup.

Don't lose your cool over high bounce rates, take a few minutes to find out why they're high and if it’s really a good or a bad thing. At WSI Edmonton, our web designers know Google analytics inside and out, so we can tell you whether or not your bounce rates are what they should be. Contact us today and we will be happy to chat with you about any concerns you have about your website.

Lynne Motkoski, Marketing Strategist

Specialty: Online Marketing Strategies
Education: MA Communications & Technology, BComm [U Alberta]
Author: The Online Marketing Handbook for Busy Entrepreneurs (coming soon)

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Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.

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