The Key Reasons Why Visitors Aren’t Sticking Around Your Website

When you build your business’s website, you’re hoping that visitors will come check it out, stay, and then buy something. In reality, unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. If you’re looking at your bounce rate (how long a visitor stays on your site before “bouncing” away) and you’re unhappy with what you see, there are a few common causes that may be to blame. They include:

Your site wasn’t in line with what the person was looking for when they did a search

If someone found your site via Google search and they were looking for one particular product, only to find that you don’t sell that item, don’t be surprised if they don’t stick around. While you can’t control what someone is looking for when they’re browsing online, you can make sure that your site isn’t getting misclassified. As you’re crafting your content, choose the keywords you’re looking to rank for carefully to help eliminate the possibility of confusion. For example, picking “sports” is problematic because it’s a.) vague and b.) confusing. Do you sell sporting goods? Are you a sports team? Get more specific to improve your search engine results and ability to convey your company’s purpose to clients.

You’re not giving them much information

Your site has all of the basics! Awesome! But once a visitor gets done reading about who you are, what you do, and where you’re located, there’s really no reason for them to stick around. They’ve read all of the information you’ve provided, and it’s time to be on their merry way.

While it’s certainly good to eliminate content that’s unnecessarily wordy, don’t keep your site so sparse that you cut any reason to linger. A blog, photo gallery, or FAQ section are all great ways to encourage potential customers to stick around for longer.

You aren’t giving them direction about what to do next

You provided all of the information a potential customer needed, which is a major first step. But now what? If you don’t tell your visitors what to do next, don’t be surprised when they depart your site quickly in favor of another. To prevent this, rely heavily on a call to action whenever possible. This could be “subscribe to my email newsletter” or “download my free eBook” or “schedule a consultation” or any number of other things. If you have a potential customer’s eyeballs and you don’t tell them what you’d like them to do next, you’re missing a major opportunity to make a sale.

If your bounce rate is higher than you’d like it to be and you need help deciphering why and what to do about it, I can help. Contact Me!