Articles in The 'FutureNow' Tag

Are Your Clients Bouncing Off Of Your Site?

by Ryan Faria

I have been asked by many clients ‘how can I be sure my search engine marketing campaign is performing?’  While there are a number of ways to determine the success of an internet campaign; one important metric to pay attention to is the bounce rate.  The bounce rate refers to visitors who get to your page, but quickly leave with little to no interaction.

There are many factors that can contribute to bounce rate.  Some visitors may click on the ads accidently; we are all guilty of this.  These accidental clicks do not necessarily reflect on the effectiveness of the ads, due to the fact that it is attributed to human error.  However, confusing or misleading ads can lead to many visitors clicking on ads, but a large abandonment rate.  Another cause of a high bounce rate can be searchers who do not find what they are seeking.  According to FutureNow, it is necessary for a website to have relevant content in order for a user to ‘move forward until found’ and visit additional site pages.  For example, if you are an advertiser selling T-shirts, you may not want to use slang keywords such as ‘tees.’  By utilizing this keyword, you run a great of risk of having your ads associated with golf-related search results.  The Google content network can be a valuable resource when used correctly; however, when general keywords are used and targeted across all relevant search pages, you may see your bounce rate rise exponentially.

So, how can the bounce rate be lowered?  Here are some suggestions to not only decrease the campaign bounce rate, but also improve the quality of your visitors.

– Review your ad copy to ensure that your ads are not misleading or confusing to potential searchers
– Utilize Google Analytics to determine trends in which the bounce rate has increased or decreased
– Identify individual keywords that have an exceptionally high bounce rate.  According to Blogsessive, a bounce rate between 20% and 50% is acceptable.
– Consider adding negative keywords to your cost per click campaign to reduce the amount superfluous clicks and irrelevant searches
– If using the Google Content Network, select specific topics and sites of interest pertinent to your product or services

By paying attention to your bounce rate, you can not only improve the quality of visitors to your site, but also the amount of conversions generated.