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My Bounce Back Rate On One Of My Sites Is A Disgrace

by mediasurgeons
12 replies
Yep, I'm not afraid to admit it, it is around 85% and gets about 500 visitors a day from long tail traffic.

I am using a fairly plain wordpress theme called Fortissimo and I want to change this to something a little bit more interesting too see if that works. So the question(s) is...

Does anyone know of a good wordpress theme with left side bar column that is clean and keeps visitors interested?

Secondly besides the theme has anyone got any tips to keep visitors for slightly longer?

My average time on site is 82s and around 11% stay for more than 5 minutes which is okay I guess.

Any answers will be greatly appreciated and if anyone comes up with the magic bullet a small prize maybe in order

Gracias
#back #bounce #disgrace #rate #sites
  • Profile picture of the author Ben Holmes
    As I understand it (and by all means, correct me if I'm wrong!) a bounce rate is a determination of how many people click on your site, then immediately leave without clicking anything on your site...

    Why not give them something devastatingly interesting to click on?

    Big bold title above the fold: "Click Here for a Free Report on ..." Send'em someplace else on your site at least once, then it's not considered part of your bounce stats... do I have this correct?
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    • Profile picture of the author howinfo
      Originally Posted by Khadaji View Post

      As I understand it (and by all means, correct me if I'm wrong!) a bounce rate is a determination of how many people click on your site, then immediately leave without clicking anything on your site...

      Why not give them something devastatingly interesting to click on?

      Big bold title above the fold: "Click Here for a Free Report on ..." Send'em someplace else on your site at least once, then it's not considered part of your bounce stats... do I have this correct?
      It does not mean that they leave right away, they can stay on that page for some time and just don't visit any other pages of your site. As long as they leave the way you want them to then the high bounce rate can be good thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author mediasurgeons
    Yeah, by bounce back I mean leave straight away. The content is good in my opinion but it really isn't a great looking site because I always prefer cleaner looking sites, you could say this one is particulary plain actually.

    I could try putting a massive link somewhere but then I'm not sure that will solve the problem as I might end up with the genuine visitors clicking off because it looks to scammy.
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    • Profile picture of the author edenworkshops
      I have a good bounce rate (32%) and I put it down to good content and genuine special offers in the right hand column. It seems to work.

      Richard
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  • Profile picture of the author rackverse
    Put a strong call to action in the upper right hand corner (above the fold). Also make sure you aren't doing a "bait and switch"...where browsers thinking they're getting one thing and not finding it there.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    Send me the URL in a PM and I'll take a look at your site.

    Most likely I can give you a suggestion how to cut the bounce rate in half. I have done it many times!
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    • Profile picture of the author unclepennybags
      Dude it just depends on how well you make your site. The value of your content is what will keep people around. It sounds like it is a sniper site you have. I have sniper sites that are terrible because I only have like 3 posts and it really shows as the bounce rate is 90%. But I have others that are around 50%.
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  • Profile picture of the author RussRuffino
    I use the Optimize Press WP theme for a lot of my sites and squeeze pages. If you make the benefit CRYSTAL-CLEAR up front in the headline you should be able to make the most of the traffic you're getting.

    Make it a no-brainer - the simplest headline is: "Free Video Reveals the #1 Secret To [Benefit]"

    I would start there.

    R
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  • Profile picture of the author mediasurgeons
    It is not a sniper site as it is about 40 pages long and doesn't rank anywhere near number 1 on google as yet. A lot of useful tips here so thanks very much for the feedback, I am not trying to get opt ins so not sure some of these ideas will work.

    Thanks for the PMs as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    It worries me when people complain about their bounce rate without outlining the context of their site. The complaint it totally meaningless without that context.

    It makes me wonder if they know what bounce rate is. It's a bit like saying you conversion rate sucks without providing any other information on which to base a constructive response.

    There are circumstances where a bounce rate of 100% would be desirable.

    Cheers,

    Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author mediasurgeons
    I agree, the question I am asking is how to keep visitors around that little bit longer not so much the bounce rate.

    I'll certainly take a 100% bounce rate when I have rung the changes
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    But why do you want them to stay for longer? Length of time on a site isn't a money earner. Is this actually about time or is it about maximizing page views to try to increase ad impressions or clicks?

    Cheers,

    Confused of Scotland.
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