If you're looking at your website statistics/analytics or even your sales from your website, you know that some people come to your website and leave right away. That's called a "bounce" in the website metrics world.
People bounce off websites for a number of reasons (and think about why you do it yourself when you visit websites):
Let's find out what causes traffic to bounce and how it can be fixed... easily and quickly!
Google tracks how long people stay on your website. This metric is called "dwell time" for how long people stay on a particular page. Google does this tracking two, main ways. One is if you have Google Analytics running on your website. The code you put on each page is all they need to do this tracking. The second way is just by the search results page - if they see you leave the search results page, then come back, they know the page you went to wasn't a good result because you're back for a better result.
This tracking can, however, work in your favor if people stay on your website for a good amount of time because that's a sign that they found what they were searching for and that your website provides a good user experience.
You can fix bounces in a number of ways, and when you do, Google will see people hanging out at your website longer, which will encourage them to send more traffic to you by ranking your website higher. Remember, Google is always working to have the best results, so you have to "think like Google" here and make sure your website IS the best result.
A great way to get more website traffic, leads, and sales is to fix the design of your website.
If it's not converting well, then it's time to make some changes. Doing some split testing will help. This is where half of your traffic sees one page and half sees the page another way. The difference is maybe 1-2 words or colors or other things changed. Do this for 100 visitors and you'll have a winner. Then continue making small changes until you have a page that converts very well.
Going from a 2% to 4% conversion rate is 20 more conversions (leads/sales) per 1000 visitors to that page. What would you do with 20 more conversions per week or per month? How would that change your business? Think about that.
Changing the design is the best way to get more leads and sales with the traffic you already have. When your website visitors stay on your website longer (fewer bounces / more dwell time), Google will reward you with higher rankings, bringing in more traffic and even more leads/sales. It's basically a snowball effect!
Having your website load faster is the easiest way to increase conversions and get more sales and traffic... for sure!
Google's speed update now applies for all users - how does it affect you? (searchenginewatch.com)
Improving the speed of your website is something that you should invest in regardless of SEO - Google's own data shows that a 3 seconds load time increases bounce rates by 32% (when compared to a one second load time) and a 5 seconds load time can increase your bounce rates by 90%; and don't forget, every bounce represents a potential customer lost.
Here's the data from Google:
Amazon, the biggest e-commerce website, knows this well. They know it so well that they came up with their own, huge data center so they can host their website themselves and make it as fast as possible. This service is so good that they've made it a product and they resell their amazing hosting service.
Also, 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. Wow!
Webstix can help with website speed optimization and also with fast website hosting. We've had many clients switch to our hosting and some have even switched back to our hosting. We've ran benchmark tests on other hosting and ours is fast. If you're buying cheap hosting, that is that you get - cheap hosting. Cheap hosting ends up costing you more money due to increased bounces.
I'll say that again...
Cheap hosting ends up costing you more money due to increased bounces!
People are leaving your website because it's too darn slow!
There is absolutely no good reason to go with cheap website hosting... none. What you gain in speed pays for the increased cost... easily.
Google looks at the mobile version of your website and how quickly it loads. When it loads quickly, you rank high. We've seen it happen over and over again. Ok, we're giving away a secret here - this is one tactic we use to get websites to rank higher: fast website hosting (which we have).
To have a successful website, there are a number of items in the equation:
There you go - there are 9 items. If you're lacking in a few of them, your competitors will use that as an opportunity to rank higher than you and get the traffic they need to dominate. All of these things are in your control, so that means you can rank higher than your competition - you can!
And honestly, if you're not doing all of these 9 things, you may very well be burning your own money - just like that cheap hosting you may have. This isn't 2004 where not every business had a website - they all do now. This means you need to do all you can (all that's in your power) to compete and beat your competition. Everyone today has a computer in their pocket and when they're searching for what you offer, you need to be found... period!
Are you tired of your website just sitting there, doing nothing for you?
Is now finally the time to go "all in" and make sure your website delivers for your company instead of just doing it half way?
Do you want your website set up the right way so that Google loves it and wants to send you traffic?
How would that change your business?
If you're finally serious about your website, we want to work with you. Contact Webstix today and let's get things going!
-Tony
