Why Do Visitors Leave Your Website?
Visitor traffic is one of the most important factors that determine the success of a website on the Internet. However, something more important than attracting visitors is to retain them on the website. By keeping your visitors on the site for longer times, you can increase the number of page views as well your chances of them performing a desired action. Often you may notice that though your website gets a huge number of visitors, they tend to leave abruptly. This may be because there is something on your website that they don’t like. By knowing the reason why visitors leave your website, you can seek to make adjustments and thus improve the website. Here are some common reasons why people exit websites.
Poor Accessibility
No matter how great the website is, it is completely useless if the visitors are unable to access it. They have no option but to leave. Browser incompatibility is one of the prime reasons why websites fail to be accessible. Make sure you check for compliance at the design and development stage itself so as to avoid any future issues.
Unintuitive Navigation
Navigation is a determining factor in how visitors browse through the website to find information. However, poor navigation can frustrate them and cause them to leave abruptly. Therefore, devote plenty of time and attention to designing your navigation system. It should be logical as well as intuitive. If your website is fairly large, you should include a sitemap.
Over Advertising
Advertisements are an essential revenue-generating source for websites. But some businesses take it overboard and paste their websites with ads all over. This highly irritates the visitors and makes them leave out of frustration. Therefore, try to limit the advertisements on your website. Avoid using overtly flashy ads that tend to distract visitors.
Inadequate Information
Visitors come to a website looking for some or other information and when they don’t find what they are looking for, they just choose to leave. It is very important to understand your industry audience and know their needs and requirements. Armed with this knowledge, you can cater to them more effectively and provide them with what they need.
Slow Loading Pages
This is probably one of the most common reasons why visitors leave a website. Internet users are an impatient lot. They like to find instant information and would not wait till the website loads completely. A much easier way for them is to look for information on another website. The connection speed of users also influences this. Therefore, it is important that you design pages that load easily even on slow Internet connections. Use Google Analytics to determine the percentage of users who have slow or fast Internet connections.
Automatic Audio and Video Play
Audio and video features are fast becoming popular. However, even though they are effective means of communication, leave the option for the users to decide. Don’t start music automatically and even if you do, provide an option to turn it off. Visitors can often get irritated with the uncontrolled music and videos and leave the website altogether even if the website was good enough.