Whether you’re in the thick of drafting your homepage design or just starting to think about creating your website, it’s important to make sure all your decisions are guided by your strategy and goals.
If designed properly and with the right elements, your website can be a dynamic customer generating tool for you. If done poorly, your website will be just another stagnant group of pages on the internet that doesn’t help you sell and reflects poorly on your business. How can you ensure that your website is the former of these scenarios?
ABOUT BOUNCE RATES
After designing dozens of websites for clients, I’ve learned there are several key elements that can help keep customers engaged and prevent them from bouncing off the page. A bounce is a technical term that simply means that someone only visited a single page on your site and didn’t click through to any other pages.
WHY BOUNCE RATES MATTER
Bounce rate is calculated based on the ratio of all visitor sessions to those that only had a single-page visit. While there are a few exceptions, a high bounce-rate typically indicates that visitors aren’t finding what they are looking for because they are only visiting one page on your site. A low bounce rate is a good sign that visitors are engaged and interested in what you’re offering. While it’s nearly impossible to have a 0% bounce or even a single-digit bounce rate, there are some realistic ranges and averages you can aim for shown in the table below (data provided by Kissmetrics.)
| Type of Site | Average Bounce Rate |
|---|---|
| Service-based Websites | 30-50% |
| Retail-based Websites | 20-40% |
| Blogs / Informational Websites | 40-60% |
| Landing Pages | 70-90% |
Once your site is designed, developed and launched you can use a popular analytics software such as Google Analytics to keep track of your bounce rate, but before you launch your site you should implement a homepage design that aims for engagement and a low bounce rate if keeping people on your site is part of your website goals. Because your homepage is likely your most visited page, ensuring you have a good bounce rate on that page specifically is super important! Here are several ways you keep visitors engaged and prevent them from bouncing from your homepage.
1. Professional Homepage Design
A great design can definitely make or break a visitor’s interest in your website. And if you’re visitor isn’t interested you can bet they aren’t going to be buying anything from you. Here are some key crucial elements that add or take from your visitor’s interest
- White Space – the page is not too cluttered or jammed with elements
- Harmony – all the colors, fonts and images feel cohesive with one another
- Balance – the amount of text and images balances each other
- Readability – text is broken into properly formatted chunks with headings and subheadings
Related Post: Website Design & Development: A Starter Checklist
2. Targeted Homepage Messaging
When it comes to writing copy for your homepage design, it’s easy to get wrapped up in wanting to share everything you can about your business. However, your website visitors don’t really care all that much about your business as much as they care about how you can help them. Ensure your website messaging is customer-focused by leading with benefits and identifying why they should care about your product or service. Here are some other great tips when it comes to messaging that can keep users engaged:
- Avoid industry jargon or being too complex unless absolutely necessary
- Trade boilerplate generic corporate language for authentic messaging with a friendly, branded tone
- Address your customer’s pain points and objections to buying
- Include actual customer testimonials (with photos when you can) to increase credibility and social proof
Related Post: How to Focus Your Marketing Messages to Reach Your Audience
3. Visitor User Experience
User experience is another buzzword in the world of websites and design. On the simplest level it describes the experience a visitor has when they are on your website. This covers how your visitors view, navigate and interact with the elements on the pages of your website. Here are some ways you can ensure the best user experience for your visitors:
- Check that your page loading speed isn’t too slow and driving away more impatient visitors
- CTAs are great to have, but don’t go overboard. Too many pop-ups, buttons or options can overwhelm
- Avoid auto-playing video or audio files. This is a huge turnoff and negatively affects bounce rate
- Provide a clear and logical path for visitors to navigate your site from one page to the next
- Ensure external links open in a new window to not draw users away from your site
Related Post: 5 Website Design Errors to Avoid Before Launch
Need help crafting the perfect homepage design and website that engages your customers? Talk to K Design Co.
I help female entrepreneurs and business owners create brands that command the spotlight. I love working with women to help them create beautiful, one-of-a-kind brands that give them the confidence to take their business to the next level and get them seriously noticed. I’ve worked with coaches, authors, influencers… you name it, and I bet I can help you too.
