Bounce rates measure how many visitors leave your website after they have only spent a short time in it. If you have high bounce rates on your pages, this can have several reasons. In this article we will show you how you can prevent 7 common mistakes in your online shop to easily improve user-friendliness and may even reduce your bounce rates.
Mistake 1: Poor quality on images
If a website is well designed, visitors like to remain longer and take a look at what you have to offer. In this case, sharp and high-quality product images are particularly important in order to create the best possible impression of your products.
Customers cannot touch products on your website, so product images should reflect all the important criteria of a product. You can find more tips for the right product photos in this blog article.
Also check the quality of your mood images. These are images that are meant to capture the mood of your business rather than necessarily featuring a product. Mood images can be nature photos, for example. You can find a large selection of mostly free mood images, on platforms such as Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay. Apps such as Pixelz, which you can activate in the App Store of your website, also provide some helpful tools to enhance the quality of already existing product images.
Mistake 2: Unorganised category structure
With the category menu, your visitors navigate to your offer. They want to be guided through the website – you therefore need a good overview at first glance. If they do not find what they are looking for, they will leave your website. Therefore, make sure that your category structure covers all areas of your business and still remains clear. Your categories should:
- Not overlap
- Have several levels if there are more than seven categories (mega-menu)
- Not contain any technical terms
Avoid unnecessary category depth and only create top categories that you really need. Read more tips on how to create the right categories for your website in this blog article.
Mistake 3: Lack of social proof
In order for website visitors to develop trust in your brand, a social proof is beneficial. Behind this well known psychological phenomenon is the observation that buyers like to rely on the opinions of other people when it comes to a brand or a product. This is also shown in a study by The Search Engine Journal, in which almost 63% stated that they are more willing to buy from a site that has quality seals and product reviews given by other users.
Use this social proof effect on your website by including seals of approval and other reviews. You can do this easily with apps like Trustami or Trusted Shops.
Mistake 4: Irrelevant content
Visitors will mainly find you through certain keywords on search engines. In order to achieve a higher ranking, you should inform yourself about search engine optimisation, craft the right content for your website and decide which group of people you want to target.
Some must-haves for your content can be applied to almost any site: Use short sentences, paragraphs and headings if the layout allows it. Even with product descriptions, make sure the texts are clear yet rich and mind filler words! You can also highlight keywords such as your unique selling points on your website.
In order to identify keywords that are relevant to search engines and your target group, you need to know about general search engine optimisation strategies. You can find more tips on how to promote your business online in this article.
Mistake 5: Too few call-to-action buttons
If you want to encourage visitors to stay on your website and take action, you need to create triggers and interact with them.
You can do this, for example, with call-to-action (CTA) buttons. CTA buttons stand out from the classic text and are labelled, as the name suggests, with a call to an action. If a user clicks on them, they are taken to another, typically internal page (such as a product page). Ideas for labelling such CTA buttons are:
- Learn more
- Discover our products
- See the product
- Find out more
- …
Read more about CTA buttons in our feature article.
You can also offer special benefits for visitors to keep them loyal to your website. Some incentives are for example:
- Exclusive information (e.g. on weekly offers) on one page
- Free shipping on orders over a certain amount
- Discount code when subscribing to a newsletter
- Other discount promotions (for example seasonal) via the newsletter
Mistake 6: An inappropriate marketing strategy
The right marketing strategy depends on the product and should be well thought out. Depending on what products you offer, you need to set up your marketing accordingly.
Do you offer creative products, clothing or decorative items? Then the “discovery” of the items is especially important. For this, you can mainly rely on visual social media platforms (e.g.: Instagram and Pinterest) where users seek inspiration.
Do you offer electrical appliances, branded goods or spare parts? Then you should be found quickly and easily. Therefore, place greater emphasis on the search engine optimisation of your website and target group-oriented content. Also a placement on comparison portals like Idealo or PriceChecker could be helpful.
Mistake 7: Too few payment and shipping methods
If you have upgraded your Instore website to include shop features, you can offer your customers many options in the checkout. Many online shoppers have a certain preference when it comes to online payments. If you offer too few options in the checkout, customers may abandon the checkout process. Therefore: Be as user-friendly as possible and give your customers the choice! Even if you personally would prefer another provider, this does not have to be the case for your customers. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. Pay attention to your own buying behaviour and consider best practices of other websites and shops.
