Help Reducing Bounce Rate

[More Control]

Hello everyone

If you have a moment or two spare, I am looking for some advice on how to reduce the bounce rate on my website.

Currently the bounce rate is very high, it is on average around 60% which gives me the feeling that I am missing the mark somewhere.

I am in the process of building up a new design for the design to make it more concise and clear but I am in need of your feedback if you have any tips that can help me reduce the bounce rate.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to your ideas.

The website address is: http://www.more-control.com

 

[RevaxMedia]

I can see why your bounce rate is higher, whats the average time on site? <1 minute?
the design is not very welcoming, loading time seems OK. I would change the design to something more modern, without any disrespect, it reminds me of Microsoft Frontpage.

A new banner, css and images should do the trick. (Also mentioned below, it would depend on where you have generated your traffic too)

 

[Deleted member 120695]

Well firstly, a high bounce rate could be to do with your traffic sources.

Secondly, the website design looks very dated and not that professional. Perhaps get rid of the banners above the navigation so that you have content immediately. What is your site about? Hard to tell from a first glance - I'd focus there first.

 

[Gillie]

You need good copy that invites people to stick around and see something else on your site.

Very often people feel the need to stick everything on their homepage - which means its cluttered, busy and often will drive various away.

Stick on your homepage just what is needed to tempt various to go further on your site - link to other pages in the text etc.

 

[Prestige-SEO]

The load time seemed very slow for me,

The website seems very dated and un-professional and possibly a website of a company that has gone bust (due to no updates)

Something that is good for bounce rate is to add a informative video.

 

[JDX_John]

I have a similar bounce rate but an average time on the site of about 3min (and no video). Does that imply people are actually reading my front page, or just that those who DO stay are doing so far longer?

Does Analytics provide other info than mean averages - like std dev and so on?

 

[searchsouth]

As mentioned above, whether that bounce rate is a problem may depend a little on the source of the traffic.

Looking at the site, however, I'd agree that the design probably isn't helping you. It does feel dated. I think there's also a lack of clarity about what you're offering with too little of your most important sales text at the top of the page.

 

[Mate]

too much distraction in your website, big images, big banners...

 

[fisicx]

People bounce because the landing page doesn't meet their needs. The layout could be awful but as long as the content is targeted they will stay and read on. More-control doesn't even indicate what it is you offer until half way down the page. You only have two seconds to engage the visitor so they will lose interest long before they get to the details of your services

 

[prcys]

For decrease the bounce rate , update the content or information on your site regularly. Put some interesting on your site that visitor like to read more and more about. And check your site page load time also , as it also affect the bounce rate as negatively and positively both. And if more page load time , then try to reduce it.

 

[More Control]

Hello there

Many thanks for the reply there. It has already given me several suggestions and ideas on improving the site.

I have been working on a new design that is easier on the eyes and more concise.

With regards to the traffic sources it is about:

35% direct traffic
15% referrals
50% search engine

With an average time on site around 1 to 2 minutes

Although as staff members use to the site to log in to the company back office, it does mean that a fair portion of the daily hits and usage of the site is from within the company and as such distorts the stats a bit.

This could be one factor for the bounce rate, but I do tend to agree it looks out dated and is too cluttered.

Once again thank you for the constructive input.

 

[12ish]

Although as staff members use to the site to log in to the company back office, it does mean that a fair portion of the daily hits and usage of the site is from within the company and as such distorts the stats a bit.

You can set a filter that ignores IP addresses in GA to stop this skewing the data.

 

[JohnHelpTraining]

Just to expand on the traffic sources comments a little - if a large part of your referrals and search engine traffic are coming from paid for ads and/or sponsored search then you might find that you're artificially attracting people who decide they aren't interested after all when they arrive. A possible tactic to improve that would be to analyse who sticks around after arriving on your site (by looking at bounce rate broken down by keyword/referrer) and targeting those groups in the short term while you work on the site.

 

[swasa11]

Providing the relevant content on the webpage as per the title suggest will help you to reduce the bounce rate.

 

[Alicatt]

I think you need to dig a bit deeper into your analytics to identify the problem before you start defining the solution (but, yes, the website is very cluttered and unfocussed).

I would start by excluding your internal traffic from the stats.

Then concentrate on the search engine traffic. What keyword terms are visitors using to arrive at your site?

Do they suggest you are a) attracting the right visitors who are not finding what they want or b) attracting visitors who are not relevant to your product/service

If a) then you have some good pointers for redesigning the site to clearly show your products and services (for example, it took me a few minutes to realise you even had an online shop selling parts).

If b) then you will need to look at how to bring the right visitors to your site - as well as making sure those visitors find what they want.

Hope this helps

Alison

 

[fisicx]

I have been working on a new design that is easier on the eyes and more concise.

It's not the layout/design that's the problem, it's the content.

You need to work first at identifying the needs of your potential clients and then write the words that meet those needs. work on linking theb pages together so there is a coherent information flow from on to another and so on.

Once you have an information structure you can then consider the calls to action. What is it you want people to do? After this you can work on the navigation systems and finally the layout.

And do as Alison suggests.

 

[SEO Lady]

There's no call to action, no interesting material, the banners are HUGE and busy and take up your prime selling space at the top of the page.

I don't even understand what you are offering?
Why should I contact you?

I strongly recommend you get a screenshot of your homepage and ask others to offer their opinions on this site http://fivesecondtest.com/

 

[Charlie80]

You need to make sure that the links directing to the website are relevant to the content. Any copy in the search engines directing to your website needs to be clear and relevant. The website should also have a clear purpose, which is instantly recognisable with relevant images and headings. A call to action buttons is important to give the visitor direction and offer unique value, such as ‘View latest offers.’ You should update the design; if the visitor wants to buy a product you have they may see the out dated design as a sign of an untrustworthy website. You should look at your competitor’s website and see how they have displayed their site. Good luck!

 

[SillyJokes]

Scary site, didn't have a clue what you do, more importantly if you could help me.

Possible you are ranking from something unrelated which people don't see when they arrive.

Can see from your reply you are fixing problem but am worried you aren't really grasping that fact the site isn't getting your message across.

 

[More Control]

Thank you the input, it's much appreciated. I agree, the message is lost and the lack of a call to action means that there is little incentive to stay on the site.

I am working on offline new version of the site with a completely fresh perspective that focuses on highlighting the core services on the business while clearly marking out what the company does.

With regards to the keywords by and large most customers who do business in the automation field would be searching for particular part numbers / manufacturers of parts. I know that the content of the site does not reflect much on these parts and the product shop that is being developed to work with the site is still in development.