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Improving/understanding bounce rates

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by geeklingo, Dec 10, 2016.

  1. #1
    I run 2 sites, one has a bounce rate of 53% (forum) with the other sitting at 95% (blog). If I understand this measure correctly, the lower the score the better correct?

    What are some things I could do to improve my bounce rate?
     
    geeklingo, Dec 10, 2016 IP
  2. jrbiz

    jrbiz Acclaimed Member

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    #2
    You have to offer content that entices visitors to stay longer and to click deeper into your website. Note that some webpages can have a high bounce rate and still offer good content. If, for example, you offer all of the good content on that one page, there is no reason for the visitor to click through anywhere else and it may have a high bounce rate.
     
    jrbiz, Dec 10, 2016 IP
  3. geeklingo

    geeklingo Member

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    #3
    I write a fair number of product reviews most are < 1000 words but on a single page. Is this why a number of other sites break their reviews down across a number of pages? Personally, as a reader, I find that annoying and want it all on the one page.

    Also, any recommended automated SEO tools to assess my site? I already use Yoast WordPress plugin.
     
    geeklingo, Dec 10, 2016 IP
  4. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #4
    Your bounce rate for both is super high. Not good. 95% is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. As a rule bad landing pages create higher bounce rate. However, since forums are a dying breed, 53% is not unusual since most people will just stop by out of curiosity and leave as quickly as they land on your main page, so I wouldn't worry much about the forum, but you may want to tweak your blog's main page for sure.

     
    qwikad.com, Dec 11, 2016 IP
  5. geeklingo

    geeklingo Member

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    #5
    Hmmm it could be because most of the time they bypass my landing page and get to the direct review page they want via google. Perhaps I need better cross page linking?
     
    geeklingo, Dec 12, 2016 IP
  6. unlimitedoptions4us

    unlimitedoptions4us Greenhorn

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    #6
    Hi:
    You need to offer better, more engaging content. Ensure your content matches perfectly with why they landed on the page. If your SEO or paid ads are for Affiliate marketing and your website content is for fixing cars then your bounce rate will be high like it is.

    Start by making sure your initial sales message matches what people see when they land on your website. If they match then you need to provide better content. If that is good then you need to give the read a reason to stay on your site or dig deeper. Try offering some open loop questions or statements to get the reader to want to know more or click on the next page/post.

    Good luck,

    Dan
     
    unlimitedoptions4us, Dec 12, 2016 IP
  7. Patricia Ann Lee

    Patricia Ann Lee Active Member

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    #7
    To improve or to reduce the bounce rate?
    I assume the main source of your bounce rate is the home page?
    Have you look into it already?
    BTW, is your site an ecommerce site or not?
     
    Patricia Ann Lee, Dec 12, 2016 IP
  8. geeklingo

    geeklingo Member

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    #8
    No it's just a tech blog, no e-commerce. Most people bypass the landing site if it's organic google search referral. They go straight to the page they need and then leave without exploring the rest of the site.
     
    geeklingo, Dec 12, 2016 IP
  9. LiveChatSoftware

    LiveChatSoftware Member

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    #9
    Visitors leaving without exploring the rest of the site is a clear sign that the page does not contain data they were looking for. However, if you are still sure that it does contain data they in search of, consider that:
    1. Your landing page/main website is ugly and restrains them from going further
    2. Loading time is super long and it annoys visitors
    3. Content on landing page/main website is misleading and/or poor-quality.
     
    LiveChatSoftware, Dec 13, 2016 IP
  10. geeklingo

    geeklingo Member

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    #10
    Some great suggestions guys. I might look into paying someone to give me an unbiased assessment of the site in the new year.
     
    geeklingo, Dec 13, 2016 IP
  11. Chad Eztraffic

    Chad Eztraffic Member

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    #11
    I don't seem to understand what your traffic source is.

    I doubt you can rank with any tech related keywords with pure review sites.

    Remember that most of the times, bounce rate is high because your content sucks and I assume your sucks a lot because what kind of reviews contain less than 1,000 words. Good reviews I have read are over 5,000 words with detailed illustrations and everything.

    How about yours?

    You can PM me your website URL and I'll have a look at it for you to see what's wrong.
     
    Chad Eztraffic, Dec 15, 2016 IP
  12. geeklingo

    geeklingo Member

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    #12
    Thanks, sent you a PM. It's been a bit of a hobby till now and I am starting to spend more and more time making improvements. I've fine tuned site performance and now am looking at improving the content quality and visitor retention. Any feedback is welcomed.
     
    geeklingo, Dec 15, 2016 IP
  13. Aman chaurasia

    Aman chaurasia Greenhorn

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    #13
    Hi there,
    You see, there are number of reasons that causes bounce rate to increase. Of course, it is not a very healthy thing. One of the reasons may be your subscriber's inbox has reached the maximum number of emails, due to which there is no place for a new one to enter. Deleting few of them will solve the problem. Secondly, may be you are sending emails to the addresses which do not exist anymore, therefore they are suffering a bounce.
     
    Aman chaurasia, Dec 15, 2016 IP
  14. iwebsocial

    iwebsocial Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Bounce Rates relies on different factors. Some of them are not creating useful content. Content is a main ingredient of your website or blog. Quality content increase user engagement. If you have quality content than try to interlink your posts. This will help your users to find your other relevant content. Use visuals in your posts or content like images and videos. Update your old contents or posts. Hope this will help you.
     
    iwebsocial, Dec 15, 2016 IP