There are many factors that go into determining the appeal and efficiency of your WordPress site. Among the more telling of these factors is an analytics metric known as bounce rates, which can help determine how well a site is performing in relation to the traffic on the site. Bounce rates generally tell if a person is viewing multiple pages on your site, or if they are bouncing after only viewing one page.
Bounce rates are just one of the few analytical elements that determine the success of your site, and they should always be considered in relation to other statistics. With that being said, here are a few little tips to reduce the bounce rates on your WordPress site.
1. Load Times
The first thing a visitor will notice about your site is not the logo or the content; it is how long it takes to load. No one likes slow-loading pages, and if yours takes too long, the visitor may just leave. Think of how long you wait for a page to load before going back and trying the next one. Generally, a good load time is around two seconds.
2. Pop-ups
While pop-ups have their uses and are sometimes a necessary evil, too many can scare a visitor away before they even see your content. Too many pop-ups will significantly delay the load time of your page and keep visitors waiting. Your visitor will then be expecting more pop-ups if he or she clicks on a link inside your page, and he or she may look for the information elsewhere.
3. Image Optimization
One of the main factors that cause long loading times is having too many large photos. Of course you want to use images to attract and keep visitors, but remember they will cause the pages to load more slowly. There are several plugins you can use to reduce image size.
4. Autoplay
If you have autoplay set for video or audio, it will turn visitors away immediately. If they do stick around for the first page, they may not go any further into the site, because they will expect more of the same.
5. Safety
In the world we live in, people are well aware of the dangers that seem to lurk around every corner of the internet. The importance of security for your site cannot be understated. Security services like CBI can help give your site both the appearance of security and the real security behind it.
6. Internal Links
One of the most important tools for keeping bounce rates low are the internal links you should include in your articles that will send readers to other parts of your site. This will keep the visitor on your site for longer periods of time and help them to dive further into the content of your WordPress site. Internal links will also help SEO and improve the likelihood of your site appearing in search results.
7. External Links
When you include external links, try to put them towards the end of your content so visitors read all the way through before clicking. Also, it is extremely important for bounce rates that you set the links to open in a new tab, as this will ensure that the external link does not redirect away from your page.
8. Mobile Friendly
Although you are probably designing your site on a desktop or laptop, keep in mind that many–if not most– of your visitors will be viewing it on a smaller screen.
9. Easy Navigation
You will want to make sure that users are able to quickly and easily access the information they need on your site. Including a search bar on your site can be immensely helpful at decreasing bounce rates, as it enables visitors to quickly find more pages that interest them. If users are able to easily access the pages they want to see, they are more likely to stay on your site.
10. Analytics
Keep up with your bounce rates and how they relate to other site metrics. High bounce rates alone do not always mean your site is doing poorly. You can use Google Analytics and other tools to analyze bounce rates in relation to other statistics from your site.
Derek Pursley is an influencer marketing pro with brownboxbranding.com who is passionate about building authentic relationships and helping businesses connect with their ideal online audience. He keeps his finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving digital marketing world by writing on the latest marketing advancements and focuses on developing customized blogger outreach plans based on industry and competition.