When it comes to statistics, you manipulate the numbers to support just about any case you want. However, it is important to have a clear understanding of what is happening on your web site. When you design a site, you intend to convey certain information. It’s important to make sure that people are using your site within reasonable expectations. If they are not, you better make changes.
A good place to start is Bounce Rate. Your bounce rate is the percentage of site visitors that visit your home page and then bounce off... or leave. Just like any other piece of marketing media, your web site makes a first impression and you either hook the viewer or you don’t. If you don’t they bounce. They go to other sites, back to their search or somewhere else altogether. Naturally, we want to keep the bounce rate as low as possible.
Depending on what kind of site you have, this statistic can be confusing. If your site is all Flash, chances are you will have a very high bounce rate. This is because many all Flash sites are frequently designed on one page. The Flash file is then loaded into that one page. So, there is only one page for measurable navigation. So, even if someone clicks through an all Flash site, it usually shows up as a bounce. There are ways around this, including measurement tools that are built into the Flash to track users’ navigation. However, if you don’t know this, the ultra-high bounce rate can be scary to look at.
In cases like this, if you are not measuring the internal clicks on the Flash pages, I suggest looking at the average time on site. If you have a high bounce rate and a long average visit duration, then users are clicking through the Flash pages. But, if you have a high bounce rate and a short average visit, your site is repelling visitors. That requires an immediate design intervention.
Low bounce rates are the sign of a site that communciates the way users want to receive information. This is what is called “intuitive design.” That is one of the hallmarks of a Dog Star Media-designed web site. When measured, we have very low bounce rates and high time on site. A corollary statistic on that is average number of pages clicked and our stats are high on that on most sites. Of course, we are measuring those stats on Google Analytics for sites on which we are conducting our SEO program. A factor in all of this is matching the right search visitors to an intuitive site, so who you are attracting makes a difference, too.
So, the take-away advice here is to know what your visitors are doing so you can make your adjustments. And, adjustments should always be a part of your Internet strategy. Are users bouncing away after a short view of your site? Are users staying long enough and clicking through to show us they are getting something out of their visit? Is the right traffic coming to your site via search engines? Measuring and watching these factors helps your site become more effective in generating business.
Remember your web site is your first impression. You have to keep an eye on whether or not you are making a good one. If you have questions about SEO or web redesign or Internet strategies, please email me today at donald@dogstarmedia.com.
