September 22, 2008 at 13:58The fight for the second click. Tips Jacob Nielsen.
- Transfer
Different sources of traffic imply different reasons why users leave your site. Let’s figure out how to keep the attention of those who clicked on links to internal pages and make them click again.
Today, an increasing percentage of those users who arrive on the internal pages of sites, compared with those who start the journey from the main page. Nevertheless, the main page is important, and you should continue to ensure the proper level of its usability for two main reasons:
* The main page of the site, as a rule, is the sole leader in the number of visits. Indeed, the "deep entry points" are scattered among a considerable number of internal pages.
* The main page is a guideline for visitors who come in depth through links, the point where they decide whether to study your site further.
For many sites, the statistics of growing deep entrances are disappointing: it leads to an increase in the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is the percentage of users who, having opened one page of your site, immediately leave it or close the browser window. These people never visit other pages.
No more "unique visitors"
If the bounce rate is growing, we should stop using “unique visitors” as an indicator of site success. “Tourists” who leave the site after viewing one page dramatically increase the number of unique visitors, but do not represent value in the long run. Quite the contrary, these “refuseniks” are a negative statistical sign: it means that the site was not able to captivate them so much that they viewed at least one more page.
A sign of the success of the site should be considered only loyal users - those who come back to you regularly. Or, if the nature of your site is such that most people will visit it only once, require at least minimal participation from them before considering them a positive sign.
In the pursuit of unique visitors, you can lose your position in the long run - if you come up with temptations, instead of providing those functions that will bring people back and make them your readers or customers.
Analysis of failure rates by input sources
Web analytics is a dangerous game, like all quantitative methods. If you do not measure what is needed, your metrics will not just be weak - they will lead you in the wrong direction and may lead to the choice of an erroneous strategy that will reduce the practical value of your project.
In this case, it is important to understand that a single failure rate simply does not exist; you should analyze the bounce rates separately for each of the four types of visitors' sources (ranking these types according to the degree of interest in your resource):
1. Insignificant link sites, such as Digg. People coming from such sources are extremely fickle and may not be your target audience. Be prepared for the fact that most of them will leave the site immediately as soon as they satisfy their lazy curiosity. Think of traffic from Digg and similar sites as something like a sauce; Do not worry that such a source has a high failure rate.
2. Direct links from other sites. These links are the equivalent of an unobtrusive recommendation: “This site may interest you.” People following such links do not express a clear intention to devote time to your topic to the extent that this desire is expressed by a person who has typed a specific request in a search engine. Of course, these people also have a share of interest, so a high bounce rate for them indicates problems with the user experience.
3. Traffic from search engines, both from organic promotion, and from paid ads. By clicking on your link, these users express a clear interest in the topic and, in theory, should be carried away by its content. If they leave immediately, this is a wake-up call: something is wrong with the landing pages.
* Remember: for some keywords you will occupy high positions, even if you do not satisfy the needs expressed in these words. Obviously, people who don’t find what you are looking for will leave. But they are not your customers, so you should not worry about the high bounce rates from these visitors.
4. Loyal visitors who return to the site regularly. On the one hand, you expect maximum attention and participation from your fans. On the other hand, they may not always show it during each visit, if they come often. As long as people keep coming back, it's okay if they leave after viewing one or two pages.
* Example: after a notification about a new article in Alertbox is sent to subscribers, the influx of visitors to the specified page begins. But only 10% of these people click on other pages. And this is to be expected, because longtime subscribers have already read most of the articles.
Achieve another click.
Your bounce rates will vary, depending on the group of visitors. But, not counting the insignificant visitors, you should seek to reduce bounce rates.
First of all, test your site with the help of representatives of these groups. Almost always, you can find aspects that repel visitors - low-quality design, sloppy content, or confusing navigation.
Secondly, suggest the following steps to those who are interested in a separate page. There are two good approaches to this issue:
* A one-line link, offering to read further or expand the topic more thoroughly. Let this link be at the bottom of the page where, hopefully, people would like to know more. (But do not use the ineffective method that sends people to "other articles" without specifying specific headings.)
* Situational links such as "Read also" can provide many ways to those places that really interest people who read a particular page. For this purpose, the more accurate the headings, the better.
And thirdly, if you have a product or service that motivated the visitor to click on the “deep” link to your site, it’s worthwhile to say so directly and provide a link, instead of hoping that people themselves will find the page they need by surfing the catalog your goods.
translation of the article © Jacob Nielsen
Today, an increasing percentage of those users who arrive on the internal pages of sites, compared with those who start the journey from the main page. Nevertheless, the main page is important, and you should continue to ensure the proper level of its usability for two main reasons:
* The main page of the site, as a rule, is the sole leader in the number of visits. Indeed, the "deep entry points" are scattered among a considerable number of internal pages.
* The main page is a guideline for visitors who come in depth through links, the point where they decide whether to study your site further.
For many sites, the statistics of growing deep entrances are disappointing: it leads to an increase in the bounce rate.
The bounce rate is the percentage of users who, having opened one page of your site, immediately leave it or close the browser window. These people never visit other pages.
No more "unique visitors"
If the bounce rate is growing, we should stop using “unique visitors” as an indicator of site success. “Tourists” who leave the site after viewing one page dramatically increase the number of unique visitors, but do not represent value in the long run. Quite the contrary, these “refuseniks” are a negative statistical sign: it means that the site was not able to captivate them so much that they viewed at least one more page.
A sign of the success of the site should be considered only loyal users - those who come back to you regularly. Or, if the nature of your site is such that most people will visit it only once, require at least minimal participation from them before considering them a positive sign.
In the pursuit of unique visitors, you can lose your position in the long run - if you come up with temptations, instead of providing those functions that will bring people back and make them your readers or customers.
Analysis of failure rates by input sources
Web analytics is a dangerous game, like all quantitative methods. If you do not measure what is needed, your metrics will not just be weak - they will lead you in the wrong direction and may lead to the choice of an erroneous strategy that will reduce the practical value of your project.
In this case, it is important to understand that a single failure rate simply does not exist; you should analyze the bounce rates separately for each of the four types of visitors' sources (ranking these types according to the degree of interest in your resource):
1. Insignificant link sites, such as Digg. People coming from such sources are extremely fickle and may not be your target audience. Be prepared for the fact that most of them will leave the site immediately as soon as they satisfy their lazy curiosity. Think of traffic from Digg and similar sites as something like a sauce; Do not worry that such a source has a high failure rate.
2. Direct links from other sites. These links are the equivalent of an unobtrusive recommendation: “This site may interest you.” People following such links do not express a clear intention to devote time to your topic to the extent that this desire is expressed by a person who has typed a specific request in a search engine. Of course, these people also have a share of interest, so a high bounce rate for them indicates problems with the user experience.
3. Traffic from search engines, both from organic promotion, and from paid ads. By clicking on your link, these users express a clear interest in the topic and, in theory, should be carried away by its content. If they leave immediately, this is a wake-up call: something is wrong with the landing pages.
* Remember: for some keywords you will occupy high positions, even if you do not satisfy the needs expressed in these words. Obviously, people who don’t find what you are looking for will leave. But they are not your customers, so you should not worry about the high bounce rates from these visitors.
4. Loyal visitors who return to the site regularly. On the one hand, you expect maximum attention and participation from your fans. On the other hand, they may not always show it during each visit, if they come often. As long as people keep coming back, it's okay if they leave after viewing one or two pages.
* Example: after a notification about a new article in Alertbox is sent to subscribers, the influx of visitors to the specified page begins. But only 10% of these people click on other pages. And this is to be expected, because longtime subscribers have already read most of the articles.
Achieve another click.
Your bounce rates will vary, depending on the group of visitors. But, not counting the insignificant visitors, you should seek to reduce bounce rates.
First of all, test your site with the help of representatives of these groups. Almost always, you can find aspects that repel visitors - low-quality design, sloppy content, or confusing navigation.
Secondly, suggest the following steps to those who are interested in a separate page. There are two good approaches to this issue:
* A one-line link, offering to read further or expand the topic more thoroughly. Let this link be at the bottom of the page where, hopefully, people would like to know more. (But do not use the ineffective method that sends people to "other articles" without specifying specific headings.)
* Situational links such as "Read also" can provide many ways to those places that really interest people who read a particular page. For this purpose, the more accurate the headings, the better.
And thirdly, if you have a product or service that motivated the visitor to click on the “deep” link to your site, it’s worthwhile to say so directly and provide a link, instead of hoping that people themselves will find the page they need by surfing the catalog your goods.
translation of the article © Jacob Nielsen