A bounce rate sounds like a happy thing, and a high bounce rate should be even more fun, like a kid jumping on a trampoline or riding one of those sit-and-bounce balls, right?
Not so much.
Unfortunately, high bounce rates are serious business for marketers. Google simply defines a bounce rate as a single-page session on a website, such as when a visitor lands on your home page only to click away.
For B2B companies especially, this is undesirable since you want visitors to be learning more about your company and solution, registering to download a white paper, watching an explainer video, or fulfilling some call to action that pushes them farther into the sales funnel (in other words, your site should be driving engagement and conversion). Exceptions to this are blogs or single-page websites where such single-page sessions are anticipated.
Average bounce rates for B2B websites are around 75 percent, considerably higher than the averages for other industries and sectors. The bright spot is that there are multiple things you can do to help bring your bounce rate back down to earth.
What a High Bounce Rate Might Be Telling You
What does a high bounce rate mean? For one, it could be that your page was too slow or had some other error, and your visitors got frustrated and left. Research shows that 53 percent will leave if a page takes more than three seconds to load. A very slow load time can even impact your Google search ranking.
A high bounce rate could also mean that your information was too complex, uninteresting, or confusing, or didn’t properly address the prospects’ pain points. All the latter means that time spent reviewing and refining messaging could make all the difference.
Or perhaps the wrong people are landing on your website, which is why they aren’t sticking around. This requires a careful review of your keywords and meta descriptions to ensure you’re attracting the right audience to begin with.
Finally, is your CTA clear? People may be visiting your site but are unsure of the recommended next action. While all websites should have a CTA, take care to ensure there aren’t too many of them. Websites with multiple headlines screaming “do this or do that” or “sign up here” can turn off or confuse visitors.
Of course, bounce rates aren’t the only consideration. Page-visit duration, repeat visitors, or fulfilled CTAs (think newsletter sign-ups or white paper downloads) can also mean your website approach is working.
Control the Bounce
Carabiner Communications offers a full range of services that can improve your website’s digital customer experience and lessen bounce rates through enhanced messaging, faster website load speeds, or simplified navigation and content. Contact us today for a complimentary website audit that can provide pointers on overall design and other ways to enhance website “stickiness” so that your visitors stay longer, engage with you more, and ultimately convert to leads.