Why do users leave your site?
When designing a website, we most often focus on the layout, believing that an attractive design will attract a wide range of customers. However, by using this tactic, we create a lot of opportunities for mistakes that will later cost us a decrease in conversions. In this regard, why do users leave your site? What errors lead to this?
Creating a website is much easier than getting it to the point where we get a high percentage of conversions.
This requires a lot of testing and, above all, expertise in issues such as user experience and user interface.
However, there are standard mistakes that we make and don't even realize how much they affect this ill-fated transformation.
1. Navigation on your site is not intuitive
This is an extremely important element of any website. Annoying users by not having an intuitive menu is basically the nail in the conversion coffin.
Believe me, searching for specific information by wandering through the maze of links and broken links is impossible. A user would rather shut down your site in anger because they can't find anything than decide to contact you via email, for example.
Bad site navigation is not only harmful to the user, but also to search engines, which can downgrade your site for this.
The golden rule of site navigation is to put yourself in the client's shoes, as if you were visiting your site for the first time. If you have doubts about its intuitiveness, then it is worth conducting a UX /UI audit, which will show all its shortcomings.
2. Annoying popups
Any popups or even 301 redirects can be very annoying.
Many users, faced with these pop-ups, automatically close them and don't even want to read what they say.
Now you can tell that these pop-ups appear on almost all websites. However, they are chosen appropriately and usually pop up in a specific context, not a second after entering the page.
What's more, these pop-ups store a cookie that lasts for a month or more, so the user can be sure that the next time the pop-up doesn't annoy them too soon.
If these intrusive pop-ups annoy you, why put them on your site?
Poorly designed popups tend to decrease conversions, not increase them.
3. Lack of basic signs that your site is safe and authentic
Why are users leaving your site?
Your customers aren't stupid and won't trust just anyone. If the browser "screams" that the site is not secure, trust me, many potential customers will simply leave.
This is why SSL Is a certificate so important these days, even if you don't store sensitive data or sell products?
Random the user doesn't know that your site just doesn't need an SSL certificate.
If Google "determined" that it is not safe, and there is no green lock anywhere, which means that the site is not safe and that's it. Then they think, "I'm leaving."
Many sites implement HTTPS for peace of mind.
4. Music and video autoplay on the site
I will frankly admit to you that this is my favorite mistake, which, no matter how amazing, still happening.
Try to remember if you ever left a site that arbitrarily included some music for yourself? I guess you didn't have to rummage through your memory for long.
This applies to online videos as well. Users want to decide for themselves whether they want to watch videos or listen to music right now.
At the end of a hard day, these "Additions" on sites cause irritation and lead to a decrease in conversion. If you get rid of them, you will definitely notice a positive difference.
5. Lack of Omnichannel Communication
Imagine that you need urgent product information.
You are visiting an online store trying to sell it and all you see is contacts by e-mail, and the woman who answered the call is not familiar with the technical aspects.
99% of such clients they will immediately go to the competitor’s website, and there they will quickly communicate with a consultant who has all the parameters in front of his eyes and who is able to answer a complex question almost instantly and without hesitation.
If the client does not find an online chat, he will notice that the competitor has various social networks - for example, Facebook, and it will become clear there that they correspond very quickly within a few minutes.
Do you think the client will email you or use other communication channels, what do your competitors have?
I mean there are so many ways to communicate these days that ignoring at least some of the most relevant of them cuts off a significant part of the conversions.
If the client needs immediate help, an email or a quick phone call is not always a good solution.
Therefore, it is worth betting on new ways of communication so as not to never miss a business opportunity.
6. Slow content loading
This is something I couldn't ignore or mention only in my resume. This is still a common problem for many sites.
Why are users leaving your site?
Because its content takes so long to load that they're just getting impatient. Especially when it comes to mobile versions.
User expectations are getting higher every year, so every second counts . Visitors just don't want to wait for pages to load slowly.
If desktops take a long time to load, you can still somehow sorry, this is unforgivable on mobile devices.
I won't mention that Google recently introduced an index mobile first.
Most often it is enough to optimize the images on the site, reduce their quality and resolution, and the speed will instantly increase.
It's also worth reading about what srcset is and implement this system which solves the problems of large images which should also be served, for example, on phones.
Why do users leave your site? - summary
Creating a beautiful website is sometimes just not enough. In other cases, all those animations can even ruin the entire conversion you've been working so hard on.
By introducing small changes and monitoring the results, you can make the client stay on your site a little longer, and this is enough in most cases.
Finally, I want to remind you of the mistakes that are obvious these days, but some people may not yet be aware of:
- Content on the site is not visually readable.
- There is an ad on your company website.
- You didn't include a call to action anywhere.
- Your site is not responding.
Do you have any other guesses as to why users leave your site?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.