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Ridiculously High Bounce Rate?!?

by SeanyG
15 replies
Hey guys,

I just launched a new version of my site and now it has a ridiculously high bounce rate. 75.34%. Way higher than previous versions!

The site is built to be more relevant and to provide better access to content yet the bounce rate has shot up from low 50% to now 75%.

What are some of the things that affect bounce rate the most? Any ideas after looking at my site?

Any recommendations you can make are appreciated!

Thanks,

~Sean
StartupFreedom.com
#bounce #high #rate #ridiculously
  • Profile picture of the author Quentin
    are you getting more traffic as bounce rate can equate to traffic also. Also poor call to action can do the same thing.

    Quentin
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    • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
      Originally Posted by Quentin View Post

      are you getting more traffic as bounce rate can equate to traffic also. Also poor call to action can do the same thing.

      Quentin
      Traffic is the same. Good to know though! Didn't think about bounce rate in that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    Yeah, you need to check your traffic source and its destination to find out the jump. Have you let the stats settle yet - maybe the results are skewed due to lack of data.

    Check your pages and try and find the ones that are unusually high and go from there.
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    • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
      Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

      Yeah, you need to check your traffic source and its destination to find out the jump. Have you let the stats settle yet - maybe the results are skewed due to lack of data.

      Check your pages and try and find the ones that are unusually high and go from there.
      I have been getting a lot of traffic from Stumbleupon. That will probably help!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lee Wilson
    Also check for slow loading pages and if you're using script based analytics have you checked for simple things like ... is the script on every page, etc..
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    • Profile picture of the author MLMTraining
      The attention span of most people online is very short...so if your site doesn't grab them when they first arrive and give them a reason to stay, they will probably leave immediately.

      I went to your site and at a glance, I can't really tell what you're offering or the direct benefit to me as a potential customer or info seeker. I had to want to stay on it before I read about the free newsletter.

      You kind of have a headline but it's white, which is not great to stand out. Also, it's a very attractive/nice looking site...but the benefit for me being there doesn't grab me.

      Maybe try moving your headline between the header and optin/top 5 most popular newsletters part... and I would use either a color or at least BLACK on white...I hate reading sites that have their words in white on black.

      You can also throw an arrow on there that shows your customers where to go to sign up for your newsletters too.
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      • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
        Really valuable feedback. Thanks Joel.

        I'm surprised you say that you can't tell what we're offering. I thought it was clear on the opt-in box that takes up most of the page.

        I also don't understand what you meant when you said:

        "I had to want to stay on it before I read about the free newsletter."

        Originally Posted by MLMTraining View Post

        The attention span of most people online is very short...so if your site doesn't grab them when they first arrive and give them a reason to stay, they will probably leave immediately.

        I went to your site and at a glance, I can't really tell what you're offering or the direct benefit to me as a potential customer or info seeker.

        You kind of have a headline but it's white, which is not great to stand out. Also, it's a very attractive/nice looking site...but the benefit for me being there doesn't grab me.

        Maybe try moving your headline between the header and optin/top 5 most popular newsletters part... and I would use either a color or at least BLACK on white...I hate reading sites that have their words in white on black.

        You can also throw an arrow on there that shows your customers where to go to sign up for your newsletters too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Bounce rate only matters if you want people to view multiple pages on your site.

    Having viewed your site, it's pretty obvious that you want people to fill out your subscription form. If many of them do without viewing other pages first, this will show as a high bounce rate and would be a good thing because that's precisely what you wanted them to do.

    In fact, if the objective of the page is to get their contact details, why have with the other links at all?

    Cheers,

    Neil

    Edit: I wrote a blog post on this very topic last month. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here but if you Google "ARP4 bouncy visitors good or bad" you'll find it. At least I did
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    • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
      Hey Neil,

      Great point!

      In this case though the traffic isn't converting to subscribers as much as my other businesses.

      It could be more along the lines of what Joel said, the benefits of the site aren't stated clearly.

      Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

      Bounce rate only matters if you want people to view multiple pages on your site.

      Having viewed your site, it's pretty obvious that you want people to fill out your subscription form. If many of them do without viewing other pages first, this will show as a high bounce rate and would be a good thing because that's precisely what you wanted them to do.

      In fact, if the objective of the page is to get their contact details, why have with the other links at all?

      Cheers,

      Neil

      Edit: I wrote a blog post on this very topic last month. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here but if you Google "ARP4 bouncy visitors good or bad" you'll find it. At least I did
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicholas Ho
    Bounce rate will be high for = Blog & Landing Pages

    Bounce rate = People come and go.

    Normally you read a blog post and go, same applies to landing pages. You read, you do something or you don't.

    You need other metrics for other type of sites.

    Get this book : Amazon.com: Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online...Amazon.com: Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online...
    Get it like right now.

    You can thank me later =)
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    • Profile picture of the author lamberw
      There was too many options for visitors to take on your page. When a visitor is left with too many options, they don't take any and just leave the page.

      Make it immediately obvious what you want your visitor to do. Perhaps get them to opt in to your list is a good objective?
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      • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
        Originally Posted by lamberw View Post

        There was too many options for visitors to take on your page. When a visitor is left with too many options, they don't take any and just leave the page.

        Make it immediately obvious what you want your visitor to do. Perhaps get them to opt in to your list is a good objective?
        Getting them to opt-in is the primary objective!
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        • Profile picture of the author MLMTraining
          Just go back to the page and pretend you are looking at it for the first time. Gloss over and see what your eyes are drawn to.

          Mine are drawn to:

          the Start Up Freedom header
          the pictures
          the top 5 most popular newsletters
          and the most recent newsletters

          Your ACTION HEADLINE actually blends into the site and I don't get fixated on it at all.

          The reason why Info marketers use big red lettering on white background is because you can't miss their headline that grabs your attention and gets your interested in reading more.

          You don't have to go that far, but your headline still does need to stand out.

          I'm still fiddling with my site in my sig, but if you look at it, tell me what your eyes are drawn to...most likely the Are You Ready and my picture.

          So I admit I've got white writing on there too...but it's in points, not the attention grabber.

          Even if you just changed the coloring on the first couple words of your headline or action phrase, you'd probably increase optins.
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          • Profile picture of the author MLMTraining
            You could probably just change the colors and the font or something and maybe throw a big arrow or something to catch attention...or like I said before put a headline between your header and the rest of the site...

            You're going for conversions, not the prettiest website online award...
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    • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
      I've seen this guy doing entrepreneur interviews before online. He's awesome. Just ordered the book! Thanks!

      ~Sean

      Originally Posted by Nicholas Ho View Post

      Bounce rate will be high for = Blog & Landing Pages

      Bounce rate = People come and go.

      Normally you read a blog post and go, same applies to landing pages. You read, you do something or you don't.

      You need other metrics for other type of sites.

      Get this book : Amazon.com: Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity (9780470529393): Avinash Kaushik: Books

      Get it like right now.

      You can thank me later =)
      Signature
      FREE Video DJ Lessons to help you learn
      >>>How To DJ
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