I recently read an article outlining five (5) reasons why visitors leave your website. Although I agreed with the author, there are two more reasons why this occurs. First, let’s take a quick look at the difference between exit and bounce rates.
An exit rate is the number of visitors leaving a specific web page after arriving, whether viewed or quickly scanned/read. It’s not a single-page view where you go to a web page and leave. On the other hand, a bounce rate is the number of visitors leaving your website or page after coming to a specific web page, again, whether viewed or quickly scanned/read. It is normally a single-page view.
Now, the article I read discussed these five reasons why visitors leave your website:
- too many ads – is your website an ad magnet for affiliate marketing, and should it be?
- registration required to view content – sign up first, then read? Really.
- unremarkable or uninspiring content – be straightforward and to the point.
- slow load time – speed it up!
- empty coupon field – the invisible sale.
Here are two more reasons visitors are leaving your website:
- Broken links. If you don’t remember the last time you checked your website page and image links, make it a point to do so. This can make your snazzy website look unprofessional and cause visitors to not only leave, but not come back.
- Too much self-promotion. As a marketing professional, I understand you have to put a CTA (call-to-action) on your posts, but there is such a thing as “over-kill”. Your posts shouldn’t be a constant barrage of “buymystuff.com”. Balance your CTAs in articles and social media posts with content that educates and informs your viewers. Think “trusted resource”.
One last tip: Check your spelling and grammar. Nothing is more infuriating than reading through an article that has mistakes in punctuation, grammar and spelling. Hire a proofreader/editor and make sure they use more than just MS Word’s spell-checker.
Be strategic. Be visible. Be found.
