10 reasons why users are leaving your site and what to do about it
After spending all that effort in getting people to visit your website, you want them to stay for as long as possible. After all, the longer they stay, the more chance that you will make a conversion.
But something is going wrong. People keep on leaving your site as soon as they arrive, and the bounce rate is becoming alarming. What are you doing wrong?
Here are 10 possibilities to keep in mind.
- The content is not relevant
If people click on your website thinking they will find something, but you actually provide something completely different, they are going to be disappointed. Most people will not hang around, so don’t create false expectations.
- There are too many ads
People do not, in general, like ads. You can usually get away with a few, especially if they are useful, but use too many and you could put people off.
- The design is unappealing
A boring design that is out-dated will have an impact on visitors. You want your design to create trust, but a cheap or out-dated design will have the opposite effect.
- You are using auto-play videos and audio
Many people hate auto-play videos because they are an intrusion. If someone wants to watch video, let them choose to play it in their own time. People want to choose when to consume content, and they do not want you to force it on them.
- It’s not clear what you do
If you do not make it clear what you do or how your product or services benefit the visitor, then those visitors are not going to hang around for long. Make it really clear right on the homepage to encourage people to stay for longer.
- They cannot read your content
If the text is too small or the colours make it difficult to read, people will not even bother to hang around. Certain fonts should also be avoided, so speak to your website designer for their advice.
- The navigation is not intuitive
Badly thought-out navigation makes it difficult and frustrating for the visitors to get where they want to. People should get to their chosen page in a couple of clicks, so don’t send them on a journey where they will end up getting lost.
- The site is not mobile friendly
Your site has to be mobile friendly these days. If it is not, all those people visiting on a mobile device will leave because it will be too frustrating to navigate the site. In addition, fewer people will find you in organic search, which could impact your traffic levels.
- The pages take too long to load
This is a classic problem, and it still matters. A slow-loading website will lose visitors because people are impatient. Why should they wait around? Make sure your pages load quickly and keep them on your site.
- You are using Flash
If you use Flash, when people arrive on your site they will be given instructions to download an updated version. And if that happens, they may simply hit the back button. Use HTML5 for videos and animations instead to avoid this problem.
Avoid these 10 website mistakes
Make sure you are not making any of these mistakes that could be sending people away from your site. You really want to make sure people are staying for as long as possible, so don’t spend lots of time generating traffic only to waste it by making one of these mistakes.
