You invest a great deal of time, effort, and resources into driving more traffic to your website. The last thing you want is for visitors to leave without even looking at other pages or converting. But this is exactly what happens in many websites; a high bounce rate means that much of your hard-earned traffic simply goes to waste, and it is a problem that requires your full attention.
Web design is arguably the biggest factor affecting a customer’s first impressions of your brand, so it understandably has a large impact on bounce rates. What people see when the page loads will shape their opinion of your company, and will either build trust or cause them to leave.
There are a few common problems that you need to watch out for. If they are present on your website, then fixing them should be your first priority.
1. Intrusive design elements – Auto-playing videos, pop-ups, and other design factors have a high chance of driving users away. There are few situations where it will provide enough of a return to justify the risk of annoying your customers.
2. Excessive loading times – Heavy graphical elements and poorly optimised code can lead to unbearably long load times. Most of your potential customers will not wait for more than a few seconds before closing the tab and trying their luck elsewhere.
3. Confusing navigation – All good websites are intuitive and easy to use. If a user cannot find what they need, or struggle with the interface, you can expect them to give up out of frustration. Many eCommerce websites suffer from this, and it has a direct effect on their revenue.
4. Lack of responsiveness – Do mobile visitors make up a significant portion of your web traffic? If so, then your website must keep their needs in mind. Many websites are practically impossible to use on mobile, and the few ones that tend to get most of the traffic.
5. Unattractive design – A low quality, unprofessional looking design hurts the image of the business that owns it. Customers may be interested in what you have to offer, but if they have doubts over the credibility of your company, they will almost always go elsewhere.
Remember that web design should not only focus on creating a visually pleasing website, but on the entire user experience as well. If you need help with fixing your website or getting visitors to stick around longer, give us a call today. Our experts would be happy to help.
