Bounce
What is bounce and does your website suffer from it?
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This red panda might be having fun on a space hopper, but when it comes to websites bounce is definitely bad news!
In this article we will look at what bounce is, why it is a problem, what causes it and, importantly, what you can do to fix it.
So, first of all, what is bounce? In internet terminology bounce is when a visitor clicks to visit a webpage, normally from a search engine, and then quickly leaves again, sometimes without even reading anything on the page.
You can check if your site is suffering from bouncing by reviewing your analytics data. A bounce rate of under 40% is a great target.
The problems with bounce
It can take a lot of hard work and effort to get visitors onto your site, so the last thing you want is for them to leave straight away! The problems with bounce don’t just end with a lack of engagement though.
Search engines take note of when visitors click on a search result and then very quickly return to the search engine. They take this quick return as a bad mark against your site because they assume that visitors couldn’t find what they wanted. If this happens repeatedly you can expect your site to start dropping down the search rankings.
Bounce is also bad for the environment, a visitor who only spends a few seconds on your site still downloads lots of data, this uses up electricity, but if they never look at your content then that is energy wasted.
What causes bounce?
There are a number of reasons as to why users will bounce from a website, but the most common problem is sites that are too slow to load.
Times vary depending on web users but the majority of people browsing the web will leave a page if it is not functional with in 4 seconds, some users will only wait for around a second! [1] It is therefore essential that your website loads quickly and efficiently.
Analysis from Backlinko on 5 million web pages showed that the average time to fully load a web page on a desktop was over 10 seconds and for a mobile site it was over 27 seconds! [2]
Remember that over 60% of website traffic in the UK comes from mobile deices, so you want to make sure that your site is optimised for mobile devices via responsive design. Not only will this help reduce your bounce rate, it is also good for the environment!
Need help with any of the terminology in these articles? Check out the Website Terminology page for definitions of many key terms.
Another major cause of bounce is websites that simply look terrible!
If your site has a design that doesn’t work properly, looks dated then people are unlikely to engage with it. This is particularly important if you are running an online shop, if there are issues with the site design and functionality then users are unlikely to trust your site with their credit card details.
Other issues can be text that is too small or difficult to read or graphics that look wonky. It is always important to remember that your website is your online store front and you should take care of it in the same way that you would look after a bricks and mortar building. That doesn’t necessarily mean a complete overhaul of a site, but regular maintenance is important.
How to reduce bounce
The first and most important check is to make sure that your site loads quickly.
You can check how fast your site loads and it’s mobile optimisation on Google PageSpeed. For comparison nolesserpanda.com scores 97% for mobile and 98% for desktop [3] and a review by Alpha Efficiency of 1,000 websites found average website scores of 40% for mobile and 60% for desktops. [4]
If you are happy that your page is loading fast enough then the next thing to consider is the design.
Make sure you have a defined layout, that your text is clear and easily readable and make sure you have tested your site on a range of devices (screens come in many shapes and sizes nowadays!).
How can No Lesser Panda help?
If you are thinking about getting a new website built or you would like a review of your existing website then why not get in touch to findout how No Lesser Panda can help you?