Bouncing Back: What's a Website Bounce Rate?

It can be alarming to discover that your e-commerce website has a high bounce rate. Put simply, it means consumers aren’t looking around your website enough to buy anything. And if an e-commerce site can’t make sales... Well, it doesn’t take an expert to reveal that it doesn’t bode well for the business as a whole.

But does a high website bounce rate always mean trouble? And how can you improve your bounce rate for e-commerce? In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know to bounce back from a high bounce rate.

What is the meaning of a website bounce rate?

A website bounce rate refers to the percentage of online visitors who view one page of a website and then click away (or bounce) without looking at any other pages on the site.

Why is this metric so significant??

Well, ultimately it depends on different factors, including the type of website. However, when it comes to bounce rate for e-commerce, it’s important for two main reasons:

1. If a customer clicks away from your e-commerce site after looking at just one page, it’s clear they haven’t gone through the checkout process or browsed products. Put simply, that means no sale.
2. On another level, your bounce rate also affects your rankings in Google Search. If users are visiting your site but then clicking away after one page, Google will demote your domain authority accordingly.

What counts as a “bounce”?

So, what exactly counts as a consumer bouncing away from your site? Here are some potential scenarios that count as a bounce:

• They landed on a product page, stayed for a couple of minutes, and then exited their browser
• They landed on your home page, and then clicked away from your site shortly after
• A consumer landed on your blog post, then clicked a link in the article which sent them to another website
• Or they landed on your delivery page, got the information they needed, then left

Some of these scenarios suggest the visitor was interested in your products, others that they possibly clicked by mistake – but all would count as a bounce.

What causes a high website bounce rate?

Many different factors can contribute to a high website bounce rate on an e-commerce site.

• Slow loading times?– Internet users are notoriously impatient. When they want something, they want it ASAP. If your website takes just 5 seconds to load, you’ll potentially already have a?bounce rate of around 38%.
• Bad UX –?If your website is difficult to navigate or features lots of irritating pop-ups as soon as customers visit, they might be likely to click away. Improving user experience through?UX design?is the best way to resolve this issue.
• Poor content?– Written content also makes an impact on your website's bounce rate. Is the writing confusing or poorly written? Does the content answer your customers’ questions?
• Misleading ads or meta descriptions?– If consumers think you’re offering one thing, but you’re selling something else, they won’t stick around. Make sure that ads linking to your site truly reflect what customers will find, and that any title tags or meta descriptions do the same.
• Technical errors?– Sometimes the most obvious answer is at fault. The high website bounce rate might be caused by an error with the page, such as a 404 error, broken link or even a compatibility issue with mobile devices.

As well as searching for the cause yourself, there’s also the option of an?e-commerce effectiveness audit,?where expert e-commerce consultants take a critical look at your website to spot any problems.

What is a good website bounce rate for e-commerce?

So, what would a good website bounce rate for an e-commerce site look like? Actually, it varies from industry to industry. In terms of e-commerce, bounce rates average out on the lower side of the scale.?Between 20% to 45%?would be a good bounce rate for online retail sites. Meanwhile, anything above 45% could suggest a problem. Anything under 20% would also usually be suggestive of an issue or error.

However, when analysing your bounce rate, there are some other factors to consider:

• Google doesn’t discriminate with bounce rates. That makes it hard to tell whether a user visited your site by mistake or genuinely wanted to buy something but couldn’t due to poor UX design.
• Generally speaking, it’s more important to focus on the bounce rates of individual pages, rather than the website as a whole. That’s because average bounce rates vary between types of content. For example, blog posts have a much higher average bounce rate of around 65% to 90%.

How to optimise your bounce rate for e-commerce

When the analysis of the website is complete, it’s time to look at how to remedy your website bounce rate. Here are a few things that could help.

• Improve content –?Great content is easy to read and persuades customers about all the benefits of your products. Ensure the content is informative, with plenty of relevant information, rather than being stuffed with keywords.
• Reduce page loading times –?Test your loading speed times and aim to be under the?optimum 3 seconds.
• Fix errors and UX issues –?Fixing those 404s or annoying pop-ups is a must for improving your bounce rate.
• Optimise product pages?– Better product pages mean more sales. Make sure there’s plenty of product information, clear and inspiring images, genuine customer reviews, and an easily accessible add-to-cart button.

Improve bounce rate with an e-commerce effectiveness audit

Ultimately, to improve your website bounce rate, your strategy needs to be driven by the data. At Bing Digital, our?e-commerce effectiveness audit?takes a holistic approach to your website, using data to pinpoint problems with your bounce rate and many other issues.

You’ll have an opportunity to tell our award-winning e-commerce experts about your business goals and any existing issues, so you know we’re on the same page. Depending on your requirements, we can then cover everything from auditing to implementation. To learn more about our services,?get in touch?with our friendly team today.