10 tactics for lowering your website's bounce rate

10 tactics for lowering your website's bounce rate

Taking action A thorough bounce rate analysis (and resulting actions to correct problem areas) should include the following steps.

1. Analyze the source of the visit. Identify the search engines and the channel (search vs. content network, etc.) with the highest bounce rates, and test different ads accordingly in these sources.

2. Analyze the keywords. Are certain keywords leading to a 100 percent bounce rate? Test match types and negative keywords to refine the precise keyword phrases on which your ads appear.

3. Analyze the campaign funnel. Is it seamless, consistent, and intuitive? Do your ads and landing pages capture the query intent? Do they use consistent language? Always test new ads and landing page variations to ensure that you are minimizing bounce rates while maximizing conversions.

4. Analyze the timing. Do you experience a much higher bounce rate on weekends vs. weekdays, or in the morning vs. the afternoon? Explore lowering your bids on different days of the week and at different times of the day.

5. Analyze the landing page design and layout. Test different colors, buttons, and images. Test different page layouts.

6. Analyze the calls to action. Test different types of calls to action and the wording of such calls to action on your landing pages.

7. Analyze special offers. Test various types of "specials," whether discounts or value-add offerings. Test whether a percentage discount works better than a dollar-amount discount, etc.

8. Analyze the internal navigation. Don't assume that all of your visitors will have the same immediate need or objective. Some may desire to explore your website in further detail, so test whether the inclusion of additional navigational options on your landing pages improves overall results.

9. Analyze the trust elements. Test different elements that help build trust in a first-time visitor. Include a customer testimonial, link to a privacy policy, and display "trust marks" (e.g., VeriSign, Better Business Bureau) on your landing pages.

10. Analyze your customers. It's not just about your analytics data. Don't forget to ask your customers and prospects about their likes and dislikes. Include surveys on your site or send out a survey via email, ask your customer advisory board, or conduct focus groups.

As you work on improving and refining your paid search campaign, remember to include bounce rate analyses as a regular part of the process. Doing so will help you capture the right audience with the right message in the right way, and drive further campaign growth.

Tom Shapiro is director of search marketing at iProspect.
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