Over 90% Bounce rate and i have no idea why?

Discussion in 'WordPress' started by Greg Carnegie, Jul 3, 2008.

  1. #1
    Like in the title, my blog stats in Google Analytics are as follow:

    over 90% bounce rate, minimal bounce rate for pages that are often viewed by people is 70%.

    1.16 Pages/Visit
    00:00:40 Avg. Time on Site
    about 100 UV/day

    My traffic is targeted for example people looking for "php querystring" in Google find my article on "php querystring".

    So why no one wants to actually read my articles?
    - are they poorly written (english is not my native language so i cannot tell)?
    - are they to long?
    - website loads so slow that no one wants to wait for it?
    - any other reason?

    Link to my blog i talk about is in my signature.
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  2. lifeAfterEbay

    lifeAfterEbay Peon

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    #2
    Sorry to be so blunt, but using the default wordpress theme today can really hurt your chances if you do not alreay have a really strong community built up around you.

    find something that appeals to your target and then continue building from there, I will be honest with you the visual aspects of your blog are too blah and people just wont give it a chance.

    The the one thing you can be sure of is the people that are sticking around are in need of your content therefore more than likely you have the ability to solve a problem they have, I would focus on that end and monitize that niche specifically.

    regards
     
    lifeAfterEbay, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  3. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #3
    Thank you for your answer, if i understand correctly: creating new, high quality theme will solve at least some of my problems?

    Also could you give more details on this? Articles i write are usually "how to" posts or tutorials, and i find them really hard to monetize, i tried adsense in few different places and and had only few clicks.
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  4. websurfpro

    websurfpro Active Member

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    #4
    To be honest when I see a blog with the default theme my first impression is that it's a new blog and probanly not even much content. I really advise you choose at least one of the thousands free themes available.

    Good luck
     
    websurfpro, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  5. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #5
    Hmmm interesting, what do you guys mean by "default theme"? The theme i am using was made by me or more accurately it is theme based on Kubrik, anyway i am the only one who has got this theme so it is probably not default?

    Do you mean that it looks default e.g two columns and simple header?
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  6. mizaks

    mizaks Well-Known Member

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    #6
    The site is very plain. It could use a makeover.

    I would also suggest the use of a spellchecking program. You have numerous spelling and grammar mistakes. Your articles won't get a good reception if there are spelling problems in every sentence.
     
    mizaks, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  7. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #7
    Kubrick is a classic theme, but on today's internet, the competition for traffic is so steep, that you need to stand out. Your readers will not respect the "tradition" if you will, of the theme.
    You need a theme that will make them want to stay.

    You have to remember, a lot of spam , and scraper blogs use the Kubrick theme, and surfers are getting wise to them, so most will not investigate any further once they see it.

    To be honest, I don't think any of us needed .5 sec to determine your problem as soon as we loaded the page.

    You need a new , professional theme.
     
    hmansfield, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  8. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #8
    Thanks guys, i would never guess that my theme is the problem, it looks like it is time for a makeover.

    Spellchecking program is also a great suggestion, thanks.
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  9. ZDavis

    ZDavis Peon

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    #9
    I would include more pictures in posts, and post using my real name. Grzegorz doesn't sound very professional at all.
     
    ZDavis, Jul 3, 2008 IP
  10. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #10
    Maybe it doesn't sound professional but this is my real name :) Should i translate my name to english and sign my posts as Greg?
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 4, 2008 IP
  11. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #11
    That's up to you. Depends on who your market is. If your market is English Speaking, then yes, or just include your name in your about page.
     
    hmansfield, Jul 4, 2008 IP
  12. melbel

    melbel Notable Member

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    #12
    It is the layout and some of the language. For example, you used the word "rearly" when the word you're looking for is "rarely."

    Also, it's $5 not 5$
    We put the $ before the number, not after.

    I hope my answers were helpful to you.
     
    melbel, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  13. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #13
    All advices so far were very helpful, great stuff, keep it coming guys :)

    In the meantime i took time to create new design for my website it is almost ready (besides logo and green sidebars), before i start converting it to WP theme i would like your opinions on it.

    http://ditio.net/new-layout.png

    Please, be merciless if it sucks, i won't get angry.
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  14. melbel

    melbel Notable Member

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    #14

    Wow, I actually like that layout!
     
    melbel, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  15. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #15
    Awesome, so i will start converting it into wp theme.

    Any last thoughts? :rolleyes:
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  16. Ikki

    Ikki Peon

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    #16
    Looking good, Greg ;)

    You might want to use the same green color on your post headings. Also, as someone else said, I think you should add some pics on your posts too so maybe you want to save some space for them in your design ;)

    P.S.: I also noticed that in order to leave a comment in your blog people needs to log in. That could be a real turn-off for some (maybe most) of your visitors. If you want to prevent spam (which is why I believe you activated that feature) it's better to put all comments on moderation queue for approval instead. That way if you don't like a comment or find it spammy you can always edit it / delete it safely.
     
    Ikki, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  17. ZDavis

    ZDavis Peon

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    #17
    Yeah, I never do those log in to comment things. If I have to login to comment, then obviously the author doesn't value comments that much.
     
    ZDavis, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  18. Greg Carnegie

    Greg Carnegie Peon

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    #18
    Ok, thanks i'll do all upgrades with new theme release, but i think about completely removing, links in comments and instead put Top Commentators plugin, as i do not want to have comments made only for link (which would be nofollow anyway) or comments signed as "Best Toilet Papper", good or poor idea? :confused:
     
    Greg Carnegie, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  19. godsofchaos

    godsofchaos Peon

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    #19
    Depends, totally up to you and your traffic level. A good idea might be to turn it off first and see if you get comments... if you do then no need of keeping it. If you dont then you can always keep it.

    I personally dont use top commentator, I use the recent comments plugin instead
     
    godsofchaos, Jul 5, 2008 IP
  20. hmansfield

    hmansfield Guest

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    #20
    Yes, this design is much better. Now...if I saw that, I would stick around to see what you had to say.
    Nice Job.
     
    hmansfield, Jul 5, 2008 IP