Getting readers to your website is just the first step; now you need to keep them there. The longer someone spends on your site the more likely they are to engage and convert into a paying customer but do you understand why people may be clicking off your website?
While SEO works to get people to land on your website, from there it’s the website’s job to get them to navigate through the pages, read blog posts, and complete a form (request a quote, contact us etc).
Top reasons people leave a website:
Bad Navigation – if your website’s navigation is complex, inconsistent or confusing you’ll lose them. Your navigation should be logical, easy-to-use and intuitive – keep your navigation in one central place, such as a top navigational bar rather than spread out throughout the pages. If you run a very large website, consider the use of a site map.
Bad Content – While a large part of the interest in your website comes from the visual, the importance of your content shouldn’t be underestimated. Content should be well organised, clear and concise – helping readers to easily find the information they are looking for. While content is a large part of how search engines determine search rankings you should never forget that content should firstly (and most importantly) be written to engage with your reader. Don’t have your content written with keywords front of mind; that where your customer and potential customer should be.
Too many adverts – For some businesses, running adverts on your website can be a good way to offer complementary services and make some money back from the site running costs but unless those adverts are discrete, tasteful and appropriate they will just lead to a higher bounce rate and we don’t want that. Adverts should never be the first thing that visitors to your site see and should never take up more space than you own content and banners.
Over the top use of video and audio – you want your visitor to enjoy their experience but videos that stream automatically and music that plays constantly while on the site will just serve to annoy and get them to click off just to stop the intrusion. If a visitor is intrigued by your design and content, then they will play offered videos and audio. Let it be their decision; don’t force it upon them.
Registration Barriers – requiring visitors to register in order to view your site and your content does nothing more than create a barrier between your reader and your business and leads to a higher click off rate.
Staying Up-to-date – there’s nothing worse for your bounce rate than a website that is not updated frequently. Current, fresh content will not only boost the interest in your site but it will also contribute to higher search engine rankings too. Avoid using ‘under construction’ at all costs – it sends a signal that your site is not managed well and that flows on to the readers ideas about your business as a whole. An easy way to ensure that the site is consistently updated is to add a blog page and blog posts on a regular basis (they also serve as a great opportunity to showcase your products and services, and cement your business as an expert in the industry).
Poor form – some ‘fancy’ fonts and colours just make your website difficult to read. The colour palette, font, size and general tone of features on your site make a huge difference to customer retention and conversions – if in doubt, hire a website designer to create a website that will create impact and appeal without being abrasive. A website designer can create your site from scratch or help you to redesign if you’ve already given it a go yourself but aren’t getting great results.
And one of the main reasons people may be clicking off your site before engaging is – they are bored. Boring content and a boring design will having them moving on with lightning speed. If you need help to create or rejig a website, contact the team at Website Design Centre – we can assist with website design, website development, content writing, SEO and ongoing maintenance of your website.
