User engagement indicates how much time users spend on websites, and it is a very important parameter for search engines to determine the website quality. When visitors spend more time on a site, it indicates that the quality of content is good enough that encourage them to go beyond a single page and explore all other pages. Search engines adopt a unique way to ascertain the time spent by visitors on websites by keeping a tab on how quickly they leave the site and term it as bounce rate.

Bounce occurs when visitors take a peep into the home page or landing page or internal page and do not take any interest to look into the other pages but decide to quit the website. This is bad for business as it denies the opportunity of developing business prospects. Higher bounce rate means that the content of the site does not satisfy the expectations of visitors as it is not of the right quality that compels them to look elsewhere for the right type of content.

It is easy to measure the bounce rate of websites by using Google Analytics that shows it as a percentage and usually, the higher is the bounce rate, bad it is for websites. However, there are some exceptions to the rule because there are some websites where information does not spread into many other pages, and visitors can get their answer by visiting just one page only. But such websites are only a few and generally high bounce rate is a sign of poor quality. Since it is the goal of Fyrebird SEO services or for that matter any SEO to convert visitors into customers, it is extremely important to ensure that visitors take an interest in the website and spend more time on it to engage in some business transaction.

To grow your business, you must improve the bounce rate by lowering it as much as possible, assuming that your business does not belong to the exceptional category where high bounce rate does not matter and here are some ways of doing it.

Maintain a steady supply of engaging and rich content

Content contributes to the real worth of websites, and unless you can maintain a continuous supply of high-quality content that is relevant for viewers and provide the solutions that they are looking for, it will be difficult to generate and sustain their interest. If visitors do not find the content useful, they would quickly leave the website and look for the appropriate content somewhere else. Useful and engaging content will drive more traffic to websites, and as visitors spend more time on the website, they find more reasons to stay attached to it and gradually converts into customers. You must keep providing fresh content at regular intervals consistently and see how quickly the conversion rate starts improving. Create a content plan with the right mix to different types of content consisting of text, infographics and video content that appeals to the widest section of the audience and has something for everyone.

Use images and videos in content

Using an assorted mix of formats for creating content goes a long way to improve viewer engagement. A picture speaks a thousand words and images are more appealing to the human brain which is why you must include photos in the content to increase its appeal and attraction. The content quality enhances greatly by adding eye-catching images and videos that help to grab eyeballs and keep viewers hooked to the content. Since the homepage is the most important page of the website that creates the vital first impression, make it most attractive with images and videos but without overdoing. Use only the most telling photos but do not make the page look like an image gallery. Use optimized images only or else it can affect the page speed and negate the gains.

Improve website speed

The content is not always at fault for increasing bounce rate. There might be some other reasons that can disappoint visitors and make them leave the website hurriedly by just looking at one page or even not waiting to see it at all. The website speed is a very important factor for visitors who want pages to open in seconds. If it takes longer for web pages to open, visitors would quickly look for some other websites to enjoy better viewing experience. If it takes more than 3 seconds to open a web page, then 53% of visitors would not wait but click on some other website. With each passing second, the bounce rate can increase dramatically. Test the speed of your website by using some tool that besides displaying the speed provides advice to users about possible improvements. Some WordPress plugins are available for boosting website speed.

Bring back the deserters

All is not lost if you observe that many viewers are abandoning your website that increases bounce rate. It is true that almost 70% of visitors who leave your website would never give you a second chance by coming back again. This can be very costly for a business that loses out to a significant section of consumers and a large volume of potential leads with prospects of developing new customers.

To get back those visitors who had deserted your website, you must create some strategies that help to convert them into subscribers first and then into customers by erasing the earlier bad memories. The trick is to use exit-intent pop-ups that can track when a visitor is just about to exit the website and immediately send them a targeted message. It should encourage them to subscribe to your newsletter or email list, offer a special discount or even download your lead magnet. This should reverse the trend of low bounce rate greatly.

Leave nothing to chance when you are trying to improve the bounce rate of your website. Whatever steps you take for improvement, keep testing it continuously to know what is working and what does not by doing A/B testing. It can be an eye-opener as you might discover how some apparently small things can drive visitors away.

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