What Is a Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave the website immediately after opening only one page (Google Analytics). Yoast SEO added, bounce rate is a situation where visitors only open one website page without taking any action. They do not press the menu button, CTA, or other internal links on the page.
Bounce rate is calculated using a single page visit to all incoming traffic. For example, your website gets 1000 and 500 traffic including single page visits. So your bounce rate is 50%. The higher the bounce rate percentage indicates something is wrong with your strategy.
A high bounce rate indicates one of two possibilities. First, the quality of the content on the page is too bad so visitors are not interested in exploring other content. Second, the content does not match the visitor's intent, so they search for content from other websites that are according to their wishes.
At this point, maybe you have already begun to wonder whether your website or blog has a high bounce rate. You don't need to manually count because you can use Google Analytics to find out the bounce rate of your website / blog. If you don't have Google Analytics on the website, you can install it by following the guidelines for installing Google Analytics on WordPress.
How to Check Bounce Rate on Google Analytics
Here's how to check the bounce rate in Google Analytics:
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave the website immediately after opening only one page (Google Analytics). Yoast SEO added, bounce rate is a situation where visitors only open one website page without taking any action. They do not press the menu button, CTA, or other internal links on the page.
Bounce rate is calculated using a single page visit to all incoming traffic. For example, your website gets 1000 and 500 traffic including single page visits. So your bounce rate is 50%. The higher the bounce rate percentage indicates something is wrong with your strategy.
A high bounce rate indicates one of two possibilities. First, the quality of the content on the page is too bad so visitors are not interested in exploring other content. Second, the content does not match the visitor's intent, so they search for content from other websites that are according to their wishes.
At this point, maybe you have already begun to wonder whether your website or blog has a high bounce rate. You don't need to manually count because you can use Google Analytics to find out the bounce rate of your website / blog. If you don't have Google Analytics on the website, you can install it by following the guidelines for installing Google Analytics on WordPress.
How to Check Bounce Rate on Google Analytics
Here's how to check the bounce rate in Google Analytics:
- Open Google Analytics
- Click Behavior> Overview
- Get the Overall Bounce Rate Summary
- Open the Bounce Rate Per Page Report
Have you received a report on your website / blog's bounce rate? Is your website's bounce rate high? If so, there is no need to worry because this article will guide you how to reduce the bounce rate.
1. Improve Quality of Content
Even though visitors have opened your website, not necessarily they will read your content to completion. If your content is not neatly arranged, visitors will find it difficult to read it. Visitors who have difficulty reading your content will switch to other websites with similar content that is arranged more neatly and readable.
Remember, your content is not the only thing on the internet. There are thousands or even hundreds of thousands of other websites / blogs that discuss similar topics. So you have to be able to make the best content possible so that visitors don't switch to other websites or blogs. How to?
First, share articles into short paragraphs. Internet users are used to reading fast and short paragraphs making it easier for them to read quickly. When looking at long paragraphs, the reader cannot immediately see the essence of the paragraph.
Second, take advantage of subheading. Subheading helps readers to find important points in an article. For example, in this article there are three important points that I want to convey, namely What Is Bounce Rate, How to Check Bounce Rate, and How to Reduce Bounce Rate. I wrote these three points using Heading 2 from WordPress.
9 Ways to Reduce Bounce Rate
1. Improve Quality of Content
Even though visitors have opened your website, not necessarily they will read your content to completion. If your content is not neatly arranged, visitors will find it difficult to read it. Visitors who have difficulty reading your content will switch to other websites with similar content that is arranged more neatly and readable.
Remember, your content is not the only thing on the internet. There are thousands or even hundreds of thousands of other websites / blogs that discuss similar topics. So you have to be able to make the best content possible so that visitors don't switch to other websites or blogs. How to?
First, share articles into short paragraphs. Internet users are used to reading fast and short paragraphs making it easier for them to read quickly. When looking at long paragraphs, the reader cannot immediately see the essence of the paragraph.
Second, take advantage of subheading. Subheading helps readers to find important points in an article. For example, in this article there are three important points that I want to convey, namely What Is Bounce Rate, How to Check Bounce Rate, and How to Reduce Bounce Rate. I wrote these three points using Heading 2 from WordPress.
Third, add visually interesting. Readers will easily get bored if they only see the text from the beginning to the end of the article. You can add photos, illustrations, infographics, or even videos in your article. Besides making articles more interesting, visual media also makes it easier for readers to understand your content.
2. Create an interesting storyline
If in the first point I explain more about improving the quality of content technically, in the second point I want to emphasize is an interesting storyline.
The content is neatly arranged, but the storyline will be inferior to neatly arranged content and an interesting storyline. Remember, there are thousands of competing content for one and the same keyword. So your content must be truly outstanding among other content, both in terms of technical and storyline.
A storyline (storytelling) is considered good or interesting when the reader feels relatable to the story. Good storytelling makes the reader feel as if he is reading a story or his own experience.
One effective way to create relatable content is to use second person pronouns like you, you, or you, according to the style of language that fits your audience. By using second person pronouns, you can create an interactive storyline as if the author were talking to his readers.
Besides that, put yourself in the position of the reader. When writing articles, ask yourself what problems do the readers face? What solutions can you offer? What do readers want to know? What terms will be easily understood by the reader? That way you will write content that is really needed by the reader.
3. Use Natural Popups
Lots of debate about using popups. On the one hand, popups can help you get leads through a subscriber blog or newsletter. On the other hand, popups are still not liked by most users.
You can still use popups, but don't overdo it. Excessive what I mean here is that visitors are continually presented with popups every minute when reading content.
Using excessive popups will only encourage visitors to close your website pages. According to one study, 70 percent of website visitors state excessive and irrelevant popups that are annoying. So try to arrange a popup to appear naturally so that visitors are not upset.
4. Select Relevant Topics
If your website or blog gets traffic from keywords that are not at all related to the product or service being sold, chances are the bounce rate will be high.
When researching keywords, in addition to high search volume, you also need to consider the relevance of your product. For example, the product you are selling is clothing, but you are writing a blog article about Indomie donuts that are being hit.
Your blog may be able to get high traffic from the topic, but it is also followed by a high bounce rate because the topic is not relevant to your product.
5. Create Content According to Search Intent
Imagine, you type a keyword on Google and then you click on one of the websites in the search results. After reading at a glance, it turns out that the content on the website does not match what you expect. What will you do? Of course repeating the keyword search process until you find content that matches your intentions and desires (search intent).
The situation above is an example of why search intent is one component that determines the high and low bounce rate of your website. Readers will leave your website immediately when they know your content is not what they expect. Conversely, if your content matches expectations, they will read it to completion.
To create content that matches the reader search intent, you need to understand the various search intents first. In general, keywords are divided into four based on the search intent, namely informational, navigational, commercial investigation, and transactional.
First, informational keywords are the type of keywords that lead readers to content that provides a complete explanation of one topic. For example, when typing "how to create a blog", readers want to read content that guides them to create a blog from beginning to end.
Second, navigational keywords are keywords that usually lead directly to certain brands. For example, keywords like "Facebook", "Twitter", "YouTube", or "Instagram". When typing these keywords, the user wants to be directed to the official website of the brand, not directed to an explanation of the history of these brands.
Third, commercial investigation keyword is a keyword used by searchers to get information about product comparisons of several brands.
Examples are keywords like "the best shoes", "the best gaming smartphone", "the best gaming laptop", or "the best mouse". When searching for these keywords, users want to compare the strengths and weaknesses of each brand.
Fourth, transactional keywords are keywords that searchers use when they are already in the purchase or transaction phase. Usually searchers use keywords that indicate transactions such as buying or cheap. For example, "buy a laptop", "buy a domain", or "buy a smartphone".
6. Increase Website Speed
One of the things that most website visitors hate is slow loading. Old website loading makes annoyed website visitors and finally looks for other websites that can provide information faster.
No matter how good the content you make, website visitors have no tolerance for slow loading. According to Google, 53 percent of internet users leave websites with more than 3 seconds of loading. In addition, 79 percent of people who were disappointed with the old loading website said they would not return to the website.
7. Create a Mobile Friendly Design
Mobile devices are the most widely used Indonesian internet users to access the internet. Based on Google's survey, 94 percent of Indonesian internet users access the internet through mobile devices.
With smartphones as the main device for Indonesian internet users, website owners and blogs are required to provide a mobile friendly website. Unfortunately, not all website themes provide responsive website themes on mobile devices. You can make WordPress themes become mobile friendly by using the help of plugins
8. Set Links to "Open in New Tab"
In a content, of course you put at least three or four links, both internal and external links. Platforms like WordPress automatically set the reader to open links on the same tab as the page that is being opened.
Unfortunately, this will damage the reader experience because they need to press the back button to return to the first page.
Imagine, if the reader opens five links in an article, they need to press the back button repeatedly to return to the start page. Of course it is tiring for the reader and harms you because the exit rate is higher which means the bounce rate also rises.
Therefore, you need to direct the blog / website reader to a new tab when clicking on a link in the article. That way the reader does not need to press the back button repeatedly to return to the first page. You can easily modify the open link in new tab settings in WordPress using the help of the WP External Links plugin.
9. Show credibility
When looking for reading resources from the internet, readers want to get information from credible sources, not blog abuses.
The credibility of your blog can be seen from the theme you are using, making sure to use a professional theme. Professional WordPress themes are not always paid.
In addition to the theme you are using, you also need to show proof of the credibility of your blog. One way is to display the profile of the author of the blog like on the Niagahoster Blog. The author's blog profile is useful to convince readers that articles on the blog are the result of writing from experts.
2. Create an interesting storyline
If in the first point I explain more about improving the quality of content technically, in the second point I want to emphasize is an interesting storyline.
The content is neatly arranged, but the storyline will be inferior to neatly arranged content and an interesting storyline. Remember, there are thousands of competing content for one and the same keyword. So your content must be truly outstanding among other content, both in terms of technical and storyline.
A storyline (storytelling) is considered good or interesting when the reader feels relatable to the story. Good storytelling makes the reader feel as if he is reading a story or his own experience.
One effective way to create relatable content is to use second person pronouns like you, you, or you, according to the style of language that fits your audience. By using second person pronouns, you can create an interactive storyline as if the author were talking to his readers.
Besides that, put yourself in the position of the reader. When writing articles, ask yourself what problems do the readers face? What solutions can you offer? What do readers want to know? What terms will be easily understood by the reader? That way you will write content that is really needed by the reader.
3. Use Natural Popups
Lots of debate about using popups. On the one hand, popups can help you get leads through a subscriber blog or newsletter. On the other hand, popups are still not liked by most users.
You can still use popups, but don't overdo it. Excessive what I mean here is that visitors are continually presented with popups every minute when reading content.
Using excessive popups will only encourage visitors to close your website pages. According to one study, 70 percent of website visitors state excessive and irrelevant popups that are annoying. So try to arrange a popup to appear naturally so that visitors are not upset.
4. Select Relevant Topics
If your website or blog gets traffic from keywords that are not at all related to the product or service being sold, chances are the bounce rate will be high.
When researching keywords, in addition to high search volume, you also need to consider the relevance of your product. For example, the product you are selling is clothing, but you are writing a blog article about Indomie donuts that are being hit.
Your blog may be able to get high traffic from the topic, but it is also followed by a high bounce rate because the topic is not relevant to your product.
5. Create Content According to Search Intent
Imagine, you type a keyword on Google and then you click on one of the websites in the search results. After reading at a glance, it turns out that the content on the website does not match what you expect. What will you do? Of course repeating the keyword search process until you find content that matches your intentions and desires (search intent).
The situation above is an example of why search intent is one component that determines the high and low bounce rate of your website. Readers will leave your website immediately when they know your content is not what they expect. Conversely, if your content matches expectations, they will read it to completion.
To create content that matches the reader search intent, you need to understand the various search intents first. In general, keywords are divided into four based on the search intent, namely informational, navigational, commercial investigation, and transactional.
First, informational keywords are the type of keywords that lead readers to content that provides a complete explanation of one topic. For example, when typing "how to create a blog", readers want to read content that guides them to create a blog from beginning to end.
Second, navigational keywords are keywords that usually lead directly to certain brands. For example, keywords like "Facebook", "Twitter", "YouTube", or "Instagram". When typing these keywords, the user wants to be directed to the official website of the brand, not directed to an explanation of the history of these brands.
Third, commercial investigation keyword is a keyword used by searchers to get information about product comparisons of several brands.
Examples are keywords like "the best shoes", "the best gaming smartphone", "the best gaming laptop", or "the best mouse". When searching for these keywords, users want to compare the strengths and weaknesses of each brand.
Fourth, transactional keywords are keywords that searchers use when they are already in the purchase or transaction phase. Usually searchers use keywords that indicate transactions such as buying or cheap. For example, "buy a laptop", "buy a domain", or "buy a smartphone".
6. Increase Website Speed
One of the things that most website visitors hate is slow loading. Old website loading makes annoyed website visitors and finally looks for other websites that can provide information faster.
No matter how good the content you make, website visitors have no tolerance for slow loading. According to Google, 53 percent of internet users leave websites with more than 3 seconds of loading. In addition, 79 percent of people who were disappointed with the old loading website said they would not return to the website.
7. Create a Mobile Friendly Design
Mobile devices are the most widely used Indonesian internet users to access the internet. Based on Google's survey, 94 percent of Indonesian internet users access the internet through mobile devices.
With smartphones as the main device for Indonesian internet users, website owners and blogs are required to provide a mobile friendly website. Unfortunately, not all website themes provide responsive website themes on mobile devices. You can make WordPress themes become mobile friendly by using the help of plugins
8. Set Links to "Open in New Tab"
In a content, of course you put at least three or four links, both internal and external links. Platforms like WordPress automatically set the reader to open links on the same tab as the page that is being opened.
Unfortunately, this will damage the reader experience because they need to press the back button to return to the first page.
Imagine, if the reader opens five links in an article, they need to press the back button repeatedly to return to the start page. Of course it is tiring for the reader and harms you because the exit rate is higher which means the bounce rate also rises.
Therefore, you need to direct the blog / website reader to a new tab when clicking on a link in the article. That way the reader does not need to press the back button repeatedly to return to the first page. You can easily modify the open link in new tab settings in WordPress using the help of the WP External Links plugin.
9. Show credibility
When looking for reading resources from the internet, readers want to get information from credible sources, not blog abuses.
The credibility of your blog can be seen from the theme you are using, making sure to use a professional theme. Professional WordPress themes are not always paid.
In addition to the theme you are using, you also need to show proof of the credibility of your blog. One way is to display the profile of the author of the blog like on the Niagahoster Blog. The author's blog profile is useful to convince readers that articles on the blog are the result of writing from experts.
Conclusion
Bounce rate is one indicator that you have to monitor regularly. The high bounce rate indicates that you have to fix your content strategy. It could be that content written not in accordance with the reader search intent or loading your website / blog is too long so readers are impatient and leave your website.
It is hoped that the nine ways to reduce the bounce rate above can help you make visitors more comfortable lingering on your website and not just visiting one page. good luck
