5 Simple Steps to Increase Conversion and Reduce Bounce Rate:

Bounce rate is a good parameter to judge the effectiveness of your site, or so you would think. There are various factors that can affect your bounce rate. You might have the most relevant content but still experience high bounce rate.

These are a five steps we took while developing our website to improve conversion:1. Keyword Strategy: It’s very important to have an effective keyword strategy.

Many website owners are hell bent of topping Google for those top 10 keywords. Not always the best strategy. Single word keywords are usually generic in nature and also very expensive to top. Because of this, people may not find your website exactly relevant to their needs and bounce out. More effective would be to target mid and long tail keywords, which are more specific in nature. Bounce rate will reduce if people search for exactly what you have to offer and find you.

2. Website Speed: Another important factor that can determine your bounce rate. If your site takes any longer than 4 sec to load, you are sure to have a high bounce rate. Your aim should be to have a load time of 2-4 sec.

3. The 3 Click Rule: I cannot stress enough on the importance of this point. Many sites ignore this rule. If you have relevant information that your customer want but cannot get to it within 3 clicks, they won’t only bounce out, but will never return. The site should be intuitive in nature and your customers should not have to think of where to go next. It should be a natural process. If you do have a site that requires a bit of understanding, do remember to add a page to the site explaining the process. I have seen a couple of such sites that don’t bother with the explanation. This happens because the website owners know the process so well; they don’t wait to think that their users might need to be explained. Simple things can go a long way.

4. Clear Call-To-Action: Your users should know what the site is about, what to expect and what to get from their visit here. Have a clear call-to-action and highlight it so users know what they need to do to complete the purchase.For example, if you are a dentist and have a website, don’t only put information of your self and the procedures but make sure you have a “Take an Appointment” button highlighted. This can make a huge difference on users behavior on your website. If you do have a “Take an Appointment” button hidden somewhere, people are just going to read the information and bounce out.

5. Clutter Fee Checkout Process: Remove all the clutter and advertisements from the last and final step of the purchase cycle. You want your customer to be the least distracted at this point of time. If your customer gets pulled away by any distraction at this point, they might never come back to complete the purchase.

You can spend a lot on marketing, optimize your website to the max, but if you don’t take care of these basic steps, you will see increased bounce and decreased conversion rates. So remember to stick to the basics.Nikhil Lamba, www.ClinicsOfWorld.com