Top Questions to Ask Yourself When Encountering High Bounce Rates

So, you did the research, put in the time, conjured up your inner wordsmith, and created another awesome, helpful blog post. That’s amazing.  

Only after finally publishing that polished piece of content do you notice a worrying trend: The Bounce Rate. It’s not where you’d like it to be. Maybe, worse than that, a lot of traffic is coming in, but it’s going out almost as fast.  

This scenario is obviously not ideal.  

Fortunately, there are a handful of questions you can ask yourself that (more often than not) put a ceiling on those pesky bounce rates for blog posts and other web pages alike.  

But, before diving into those handy tips, let’s answer a different question first.

What Are Bounce Rates? 

According to HubSpot, “Bounce Rate” is defined as: “the percentage of people who land on a page on your website, then leave. They don't click on anything else or visit a second page on the site.” 

In other words, they are “one and done” visits.  

No one wants their website to be a “one and done” affair. So, here’s what to ask yourself in order to ensure that’s a less frequent occurrence with your content.  

1. How Long Does it Take for My Page to Load? 

It’s easy to catastrophize when seeing people flee content that you worked so hard to produce. Thoughts like, “that blog post must not be as good as I thought,” or “people hate my webpage,” might be trying to make themselves heard in your head.  

But don’t listen to those thoughts. Not yet, at least.  

Because, oftentimes, visitors to your page might be leaving for a much simpler reason that has nothing to do with your beautiful writing and design abilities: Page Load Times.  

If people are having trouble accessing your content, then (good news for you) the problem isn’t rooted in the content itself. However, slow page load times are a problem that you want to nip in the bud as soon as possible.  

Because nearly half of web users expect a page to load in under two seconds.  

Anything beyond that scant amount of time leads to instant frustration and sends them fleeing your site as soon as they attempt to enter it.  

2. Is My Site Optimized for Mobile? 

Over 50% of all web traffic comes from smartphones.  

In 2022, such a stat should come as little surprise. And that fact alone should be enough encouragement to make sure each and every one of your pages is optimized for mobile.  

Otherwise, much like your site visitors from question number one, a huge portion of your traffic will be turned off by your page structure before they can even begin to consume your content.  

3. Is My Site Easy to Navigate? 

The two questions above could easily fall under a specific category: Making it Easy to be a Customer.  

Number three is no different and might be the ultimate question in that regard.  

None of your site visitors should ever have to work to obtain the information they came looking for in the first place. For every page, for every potential customer scenario, it should be obvious to visitors, new and old, how to navigate your site.  

When examining your site design, simplicity (like most things in life) is key. Keep an eye out for the following: 

• CTA’s: If there are too many CTA’s (Calls to Action), whittle them down to one that has a clear directive for your visitor.  

• Distracting Offers: If your site has a ton of cool-looking widgets and offers (pop-up and non-pop-up alike), maybe pare them down to what you view as essential to the customer experience.  

• Search Feature Reliability: If you have a search feature that’s less than accurate (on a good day), either figure out how to enhance its functionality or get rid of it entirely.  

Again, your visitors who arrive at your site should have no question about where to go. 

Make sure that your site is easily navigable, and that’s one less contributing factor to your bounce rates that you’ll never have to worry about again.

4. Are You Writing Web Pages for People Who Won’t Read Them? 

This question might seem funky and maybe even a tad rude, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less true.  

People simply don’t like to read.  

Or, more charitably, people don’t like to read the information that they view as inessential. That means, more often than not, they’re not going to read all of the words you worked so hard to craft in that “just right,” “perfectly flowing,” way.  

So, knowing that, start writing for those who won’t want to read your content in the first place. 

When writing a webpage or a blog post, make sure to do the following: 

• Make use of white space 

• Utilize headings and subheadings  

• Strategically bolden “need to know” sections 

• Use bullet points (hint, hint) 

• Include appealing images 

• Insert relevant links 

If you write your blogs and web pages using these tips and tactics, then you’ll be living up to that old phrase, “casting a wide net.”  

You’ll be capturing readers and non-readers alike.  

Conclusion 

By asking yourself these questions, you’ll be well on your way to tackling any bounce rates that you find unsatisfactory.   

And, on top of it all, you’ll have a simple, fun-to-read, easily navigable site that’s even more satisfying for your future customers.