A family interested in your school finally clicks on your website and is excited to learn more. But instead of being greeted with clear information and engaging content, they encounter a confusing layout, walls of text, or a design that's hard to navigate on their phone. Frustrated, they leave without ever discovering what makes your school special. Dang...

We often refer to your school’s website as being the digital front entrance to your school. The goal is to create an experience that encourages visitors to enter, stay, explore, and learn more about your school. Think of it as inviting them through the front door and giving them a warm welcome, a comfortable space to explore, and a clear path to discover what they're looking for.

But you wouldn't want a revolving door that sends everyone right back out, would you? That's essentially what a high "bounce rate" does.

What is a website bounce rate?

In simple terms, it's the percentage of people who visit your school's website and then leave without clicking on anything else or taking any action. They "bounce" away...

Now, a high bounce rate isn't always a cause for alarm. Sometimes, a visitor might find exactly what they need right away, like the date of the next open house, the lunch menu, or your school's phone number, and leave your site.

In those cases, a quick visit is a success, but it’s still technically a “bounce” because the visitor didn’t engage with the page on your website.

But, if you're seeing a higher bounce rate across your entire website or important pages, and you’d expect to see engagement or conversions, it could signal a problem. It might mean visitors aren't finding what they're looking for or that your website is difficult to navigate. Either way, they're not getting the full picture of what your school has to offer.

Keep Reading: How to Lower Your School's Tuition Page Bounce Rate

Finding the bounce rate in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) 

The bounce rate in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a bit different than that of the older Universal Analytics. Here's how you can do it: 

• Go to your Reports: In your GA4 account, click on "Reports" in the left-hand menu.  
• Choose a report: Select the report where you want to see the bounce rate. For example, click “Pages and Screens" under Engagement and enter a page URL.
• Customize the report: In the upper right corner of the report, click the "Customize report" button (it looks like a pencil). 
• Add the metric:
  • Click on "Metrics" in the right-hand panel.  

• Click "Add metric."
• Start typing "Bounce rate" and select it from the list.
• Click "Apply." 

Now, you'll see the bounce rate as a column in your chosen report.

Important Note: If you don't see the "Customize report" button, you might not have the necessary permissions (Editor or Administrator role) to edit the report. It's also worth noting that GA4 focuses more on "engaged sessions" than just bounce rate.

An engaged session is one where the visitor spends at least 10 seconds on your site, views more than one page, or triggers a conversion event (like submitting a form). You can find the "Engagement rate" metric in your reports as well, which can give you a broader picture of how users interact with your website.

What is a good bounce rate or an average bounce rate for landing pages?

Once again, it depends on the page's purpose, but if you see pages you'd expect to have a lot of engagement or higher conversion rates with a bounce rate of 30% or higher, those are the pages to focus on.

Now that we know what a bounce rate is and how to find it, here are some ways to make your website more engaging and encourage visitors to explore:

How to Reduce Your School Website Bounce Rate

1. Use Clear Titles and Descriptions

Think of your website like a book. The title and blurb on the back need to accurately reflect the story inside. The same is true for your website. The title of a page and its short description should clearly explain what the page is about.

For example, if you have a page dedicated to your school's award-winning music program, make sure the H1 page title says something like "Award-Winning Music Program," and the description mentions things like "learn about our marching band," "see photos of our recent concert," or "discover opportunities for your child to participate."

What you see is what you get—The Hill School clearly labels its pages with appropriate H1 titles, and the page’s meta description closely matches the content on the page: “The Hill’s Visual Arts program is designed to offer students an array of experiences through various traditional media and more innovative classes.”

2. Create Honest and Readable Content

Don't oversell in your titles and descriptions. If a page is a short announcement about a school fundraiser, don't call it "The [FREE] Ultimate Guide to [School Name] Fundraisers."

Once a visitor clicks on your page, make sure the content is easy to read and understand, especially on a tablet or smartphone (more on this later!) Keep these tips in mind:

• Break up long paragraphs with headings and bullet points.
• Use images and videos to make the information more engaging. 
• Write in short, clear sentences. 
• Avoid jargon or technical terms that might confuse people.

3. First Impressions Matter

When visitors land on your website, what they see first should match what they were expecting based on your title and description. So, if your page is about your school's new athletic center, make sure a photo of the athletic center is one of the first things they see.

Also, make sure important information isn't hidden by things like pop-up ads or overly complicated design elements. Keep the page clean and focused.

Wesleyan School brings many of these concepts together right on its homepage—engaging imagery, big and bold text, video, and enticing language and calls to action (CTAs). There are many opportunities for engagement and to hook visitors right away.

4. Less is More

Too many pop-up ads, ugly colors, a long page load time, and distracting elements can overwhelm visitors. Figure out the most important action you want people to take on each page. Is it to apply for admission, schedule a tour, or donate to the school? Make that button or link stand out.

Check out this CTA on The Peck School’s site— all that space, the full-width photo, the simple and direct language…It’s forward and powerful. For other less important items, move them to the sidebar or the footer of your website to keep the main content area clear and focused.

5. Create an Intuitive and Easy Navigation Menu

Help visitors find what they need quickly. A simple menu with clear categories will help. If you have a page with a lot of information, like a detailed page about your curriculum, a table of contents with links can help people jump to the section they're most interested in.

Another helpful tool is a search bar to allow visitors to type in keywords and find exactly what they're looking for without having to click through multiple pages.

6. Focus on a Mobile-Friendly Design

These days, most folks access websites on their phones. Your website needs to look good and be easy to use on a small screen. This means:

• Limited text that’s easy to read without zooming.
• Buttons that are large enough to tap with a finger.
• A layout that adjusts to different screen sizes.

If your website is difficult to use on a phone, mobile users will likely leave quickly, increasing your bounce rate.

Big text, mobile-friendly icons, and large CTAs make St. James Schools’ benefits of boarding school easy to consume on a mobile device and probably see fewer bounces because of the strategies at play.

7. Experiment, Try, and Test!

If you're not sure what changes will produce a low bounce rate, try different options and see what works best. The upside is that reducing your bounce rate is one of the easier metrics to play around and experiment with. You can test different titles, images, page layouts, and even the color of your buttons. This is called A/B testing, where you compare two versions of something to see which one performs better.

Key Takeaway

By making these changes, you can create a more welcoming and engaging website that encourages visitors to stay longer, explore more pages, and learn more about your school.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. At Finalsite, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.