You’re getting two or three inquiries a week from your website and you think your website is working pretty well – that’s maybe 10 or 12 per month.
Wouldn’t two or three inquiries A DAY be better? 50 to 60 per month?
Maybe more?
Some of my clients get five to eight inquiries every day of the week.
Sure, these results don’t happen overnight and it takes a lot of work, an investment ($$$), expertise, and some patience, but if you are not getting two or three inquiries a day something is wrong with your Internet marketing strategy. It could be your…
Traffic
Website design
Marketing message
Call-to-action
Inquiry form
… or a dozen other things!
One of the best ways to determine if your website is working as well as it should be is to measure your “bounce rate.”
If you use Google Analytics this is easy to do and your website’s average bounce rate shows up in your Dashboard.
Bounce rate tells you if people who visit your website stay – or leave.
If a person finds your website (home page or sub-page) and then clicks to another page at your website, in other words they stay, they did not “bounce.”
Bounce rate is probably the best indicator of your website's effectiveness. Low bounce rates are good. High bounce rates are not good.
If a person finds your website, again either your home page or maybe they found a sub-page on a Google search engine results page (SERP), and takes a look but then leaves without clicking to another page at your website – that’s a “bounce.”
Bounce is not a good thing.
Low = good, high = trouble
You always want to be working to lower your bounce rate.
The lowest bounce rate I’ve ever seen was 22%. It was at a bridal gown designer’s website and most of their traffic was a result of people searching at Google for their brand name. As you might expect, people found the website, that’s what they were looking for after all, and they spent some time looking at pictures (an average of over 10 page views per visit, to be exact!).
Bounces can occur in many ways.
A visitor’s computer freezes up.
Their boss shows up while doing wedding planning at work (oh, sorry… that never happens).
Your visitor clicks on their “back” button in their browser.
They saw an advertisement on your homepage and clicked on it taking them away from your website (like that ridiculous Wedding Wire “Brides Choice” award button you put on your home page with a link to the Wedding Wire site! – OMG).
They clicked on another link at your website that leads to another website (although, this could be your blog that uses a separate domain name).
The user typed another website into their browser’s address bar.
… or a couple dozen other things that result in a visitor leaving your website.
If you are NOT using Google Analytics you can calculate bounce rate using this formula:
BR = Visitor sessions that left after one page / total number of visitor sessions
Again, the lower your bounce rate, the better.
It means people like what they see, you have engaging marketing copy, they like your design, they are interested in learning more, you have a great call-to-action.
Sidenote: I talked with someone who said they had a very low bounce rate on their home page but were not getting inquiries. This happened as a result of using a “Enter Here” home page which virtually all visitors clicked on. On the next page… is where the trouble started (i.e. poor design, typos, no “Oh Yes” moment). You can manipulate bounce rate this way, but you’ll only be fooling yourself.
So… what is an average bounce rate?
There isn’t one.
Every site is different and many things impact your bounce rate, including:
Sources of your traffic
Quality of your traffic
The keywords people used to search and find you
Website design
Slow loading pages
Inappropriate graphics (that don’t support your marketing message)
… there is a long, long list of things.
In general, when I see anything over 60% raises an eyebrow and requires more analysis of Google Analytics and the site’s design.
Anything above 70% and I have a concern.
Below 40% is generally good, maybe even very good.
Under 30%, as long as you aren’t using an “Enter Here” home page, is outstanding.
As with most things “Internet marketing” there’s a lot more to bounce rate. If you fly by the seat of your pants and never look at your Google Analytics data, what you need to know is high bounce rate is bad, low bounce rate is good. It’s like scoring golf.
Those of you who are more serious about your Internet marketing and really focused on getting the best results will develop a strategy with your webmaster to monitor your bounce rate, make the appropriate adjustments at your website, focus on a traffic building strategy that drives high-quality visitors, and get your bounce rate below 40% or as low as possible.
If you’re not happy with the results you’re getting from your current website, or the results you’re getting from your Internet marketing, I can help. My clients read like a Who’s Who list of top ranked sites at Google and their websites turn the brides who visit into inquiries, phone calls, and sales. If you want to use the Internet more effectively and BOOK MORE WEDDINGS, drop me a line using the inquiry form below or call me at (866) 652-7791 x701.
I’ll follow-up promptly and look forward to the opportunity to speak with you.
Chris Jaeger
Marketing to Brides Online
