Understanding Automotive Website Bounce Rates
You don’t just want lots of traffic to your auto repair website; you want visitors who are interested in finding a new auto repair shop where you’re located. Most automotive online marketing is aimed at finding the right kind of visitors- potential customers- to your website, but it’s not a simple or quick process. You’ve got to pay attention to the numbers and make sure that the traffic you get as a result of your marketing strategy is the kind of traffic you want- targeted traffic.
What exactly does ‘bounce rate’ mean?
The bounce rate is simply the percentage of visitors to your site who only look at the first page they see. They do a Google search, your site comes up, they click the link, then they go somewhere else immediately. They don’t go from your home page to the contact page or visit your blog or the page about your location- they just leave.
Obviously, a high bounce rate is not something you want. It indicates problems with the website, or services that don’t appeal to anyone. But you can’t appeal to every visitor, so you will always have a percentage of visitors who ‘bounce’. Everyone wants to reduce and minimize their bounce rate, because it is one indication that you are not getting the type of traffic you want. But how to do it?
How Can You Lower Your Bounce Rate?
Besides a website just not being what they’re looking for, one of the biggest reasons that a new visitor will leave is that they find the site confusing or hard to read. A poorly designed site can really turn some visitors away. Things like low contrast, too many menus or bad fonts are difficult to read, and some visitors would rather just find something easier.
This may have nothing to do with how good you are at repairing cars, but it will scare away potential customers. The design of your site should be consistent throughout, should be high contrast and each page should have specific and obvious information as well as easy-to-access links to the other important pages on the site.
Social Media and Responsive Layouts
If you are using social media as part of your automotive marketing plan (you should be), then many new users are going to find your site using a wide variety of platforms. Your site must look consistent on a computer screen, a tablet, and a smartphone. This is called “responsiveness”.
Keep in mind that the overall goal is for website visits to turn into appointments at your shop. Focusing on good content and representing your business accurately and professionally is the best strategy, but proper attention to website and design detail will improve your bottom line.
We understand bounce rates aren’t everyone’s cup of tea or top priority, that’s why our web marketing programs and services take care of the nitty gritty of SEO for you. For more information on our program, services, or SEO advice, contact us today for a free consultation.