Can you explain drastic change in bounce rate?

smkyle1 · 09-30-2009, 02:15 PM

I'm a relative SEO novice. I have a single site that I set up 18 mos ago with my husband. For the most part we've had an 85% bounce rate almost since the inception of the site (based on Google Analytics). Then suddenly, on Sept 5, 2009 our bounce rate dropped to the low 40%'s and even dipped into the high 20%s. Then, as suddenly as it dropped, it returned to the mid 80%s at about 7:00 pm on Sept 27, 2009.

Because the difference was so dramatic, I checked to see if I had done anything on Sept 5th and found that I had installed a couple of Wordpress Plugins. The one I thought could have possibly impacted the bounce rate was SEO Booster Lite. But I had no way of knowing. Now, I am completely perplexed because, to the best of my knowledge, I haven't done anything different with the content but the bounce rate has gone back.

Any ideas?

My site gets approx 1250 visits per day. It's called the LA Progressive.

gwben · 09-30-2009, 02:28 PM

Well where does the majority of your traffic come from? If you haven't i would install statpress or cystats (unless you are using google analytics).

If the majority of your traffic is coming from social bookmarking sites or links from social networking sites that sort of traffic has a really high bounce rate.

The dip could have been that one of your pages hit in the search engines (maybe something newsworthy or quality content) and then you were receiving lots of organic traffic (which has a much lower bounce rate). This may have also been a page, or an image that got indexed.

If you ARE NOT getting much traffic from networking/bookmarking sites then you need to take a double look at your site design.

Its pretty standard to get around the 30-35% bounce rate.

Without seeing stat logs and checking into your analytics thats about the best I can give you! Best of luck!

smkyle1 · 09-30-2009, 02:46 PM

thanks for the feedback. About 40% of my traffic comes from organic searches. I think you've told me what I needed to know. Thanks again.

09-30-2009, 02:15 PM	#1
smkyle1 Warrior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Can you explain drastic change in bounce rate? I'm a relative SEO novice. I have a single site that I set up 18 mos ago with my husband. For the most part we've had an 85% bounce rate almost since the inception of the site (based on Google Analytics). Then suddenly, on Sept 5, 2009 our bounce rate dropped to the low 40%'s and even dipped into the high 20%s. Then, as suddenly as it dropped, it returned to the mid 80%s at about 7:00 pm on Sept 27, 2009. Because the difference was so dramatic, I checked to see if I had done anything on Sept 5th and found that I had installed a couple of Wordpress Plugins. The one I thought could have possibly impacted the bounce rate was SEO Booster Lite. But I had no way of knowing. Now, I am completely perplexed because, to the best of my knowledge, I haven't done anything different with the content but the bounce rate has gone back. Any ideas? My site gets approx 1250 visits per day. It's called the LA Progressive.

09-30-2009, 02:28 PM	#2
gwben Money Shark Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 18 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 4 Posts Contact Info	Re: Can you explain drastic change in bounce rate? Well where does the majority of your traffic come from? If you haven't i would install statpress or cystats (unless you are using google analytics). If the majority of your traffic is coming from social bookmarking sites or links from social networking sites that sort of traffic has a really high bounce rate. The dip could have been that one of your pages hit in the search engines (maybe something newsworthy or quality content) and then you were receiving lots of organic traffic (which has a much lower bounce rate). This may have also been a page, or an image that got indexed. If you ARE NOT getting much traffic from networking/bookmarking sites then you need to take a double look at your site design. Its pretty standard to get around the 30-35% bounce rate. Without seeing stat logs and checking into your analytics thats about the best I can give you! Best of luck!
	-- Ben -- Affiliate Manager <--Approving new Affiliates Click Here--> 30% RevShare or $60 CPA MSN: gwagesben@hotmail.com \|\| AIM: gwagesben <br> WeWantToBeMillionaires.com

09-30-2009, 02:46 PM	#3
smkyle1 Warrior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Can you explain drastic change in bounce rate? thanks for the feedback. About 40% of my traffic comes from organic searches. I think you've told me what I needed to know. Thanks again.