You work hard to build a website that everybody can enjoy. You carefully curate content that appeals to your audience, find ways to increase traffic and remain dedicated to updating your audience on a regular basis. Yet one day, you discover that a large number of people are leaving your website as soon as they arrive. This can be disheartening, as it speaks to the reality that these people are not finding your website enjoyable or helpful. However, there are many different reasons why people may be leaving your website that have nothing to do with its overall quality. What could be causing this? Continue reading to find out about some common reasons why people are leaving as soon as they arrive.

Terrible Navigation Options

People like to know where they’re going, and they like to be able to find their way. One of the biggest reasons why people immediately leave websites is navigational issues. Whether the user is on a desktop or mobile device, there are many different navigation problems that can arise depending on the site’s design. Links that are too small to access via a mobile device, poorly-organized categories and misleading links that do not explain specifically what is on said page can all be prime reasons why people decide to look elsewhere. You don’t want to be pinging links to your pages that are functionally terrible, so be sure to carefully consider these elements when building your site’s navigation infrastructure.

Intrusive Elements

Certain elements of a website can be off-putting from the moment somebody arrives. What kinds of elements are we talking about? For starters, advertisements can be a huge cause for concern. Many websites (for instance, local newspaper websites) use an immense amount of ads in order to generate revenue, placing them in every spare inch of space on each page. Another common element that can be intrusive are the placement of unwanted audio and video pop-ups, as may be seen on a variety of marketing landing pages. By avoiding these intrusive elements, you can reduce the chance that someone will roll their eyes and immediately leave your website.

Mandatory/Required Actions

When somebody arrives on your website, is there anything they must first do in order to access content? From pop-up subscription boxes to registration requirements, these elements can be perceived very negatively by users. By avoiding the placement of barriers in between your visitors and your content, you will automatically increase the percentage of people who stick around. In some cases, user registration may be required in order to offer a product or service to somebody: to soften the metaphorical blow to your traffic, try offering the user a taste of what he or she will get by registering.

Whether you’re pinging links that can’t be used effectively, cutting off your content from users through required actions or using too many pop-ups and multimedia, these actions can be disastrous for your meaningful traffic levels. Have you made any other changes that successfully reduced bounce rates? Let us know!