What is BOUNCE RATE?
Do we want it to be high or low?? We get this question from our readers quite often.
For most things on our blogs, we are trying to INCREASE the numbers by attracting more visitors to our site. E-mail subscribers are important and we hope for more comments from readers. MORE is what we want. But bounce rate is different. This is one number that we want to go DOWN.
What is bounce rate?
Bounce rate is the number that represents the percentage of readers who come to your blog and then “bounce off” to another site without checking out all the other pages on your site. This is not what we want for our blogs.
We want readers to be interested and engaged and clicking around on our site and seeing more of what we have to offer. When readers come to our site, we want the number of people who leave our blogs to be low.
How do we find out our bounce rate?
With Google Analytics, of course. GOOGLE ANALYTICS MADE EASY
First, when you log in to your Google Analytics account, scroll down in the left column to “Acquisition.” Next, click “Overview” and you will see the column entitled “Bounce Rate.”
If the number is high, there are ways to decrease your bounce rate. The goal is to keep your visitors interested so that they will stay on your site.
HOW CAN I KEEP VISITORS ON MY SITE?
1. Write interesting content.
If your blog posts are written quickly and with no regard to what your audience wants to read about or to learn, then of course they won’t stick around for long.
When you actually put planning planning and thought into who you are trying to attract with your posts, your readers will stay! Are you all over the place with blog post topics?
If that is the case, then you need to narrow down your niche and your focus. HOW TO WRITE A KILLER BLOG POST EVERY SINGLE TIME
2. Create an interesting “About Me” page.
Your visitors want to know who you are and a good “About Me” page allows them to make a more personal connection with you.
When they visit this page, instead of having them immediately leave your site, make sure you have a “Related Posts” plugin installed.
This shows your other posts in the sidebar or on the bottom of the page and entices readers to stay on your site and to move on to other content.
3. Make your site user-friendly.
Make sure that your site is easy to navigate. Having a confusing website can definitely annoy readers and cause them to bounce from your site right away.
Look at your site with fresh eyes and imagine that you are a visitor. Have you made navigation as simple as possible? Are your links clear and straightforward?
Change whatever is necessary to make a visit to your site an enjoyable experience for your readers.
4. Link older posts to your current post.
If you have older posts that are related in subject matter to the one that you are writing, link to that post so that readers will be interested and will click onto the older post to read it.
Link to more than one post if they are all relevant to the subject. There are several WordPress plugins available for this.
5. Make your blog posts easy to read.
Include eye-catching graphics or photos in your blog posts because breaking up the text not only makes it easier to read, but also makes it a more enjoyable experience for your reader.
How boring it is to go to a blog that is only large chunks of text! I would bounce right off that one, too!
Make sure you are keeping your reader in mind at all times and that you are providing a good experience for them when they visit your site.
The more information that they find appealing and interesting, then the longer they will stay to explore the rest of your site.
6. Make it easy for visitors to read your other blog posts.
Show your most popular posts in your sidebar or at the bottom of the page.
WordPress has plugins that do the trick for this, too.
Install a plugin that shows popular posts on your sidebar, which will up the chances that visitors will click through to those posts. When they do this, they will discover more of your content.
7. Make sure that you have a search box on your blog.
If someone visits your site and is interested in specific information, a search box helps them to find what they are looking for and at the same time will keep them on your site for a longer period of time.
8. Limit pop-ups and other annoying distractions.
Be careful with your pop-ups, opt-ins, and ads. If there are too many things popping up, sliding in, and covering up your posts, your audience may be turned off.
Nobody wants to be distracted by so many things at one time.
When the banners and pop-ups cover the words on a blog and you’re constantly having to close the boxes, I don’t know about you, but I sometimes get irritated and just leave the site. Don’t chase your readers away!
9. Don’t allow your site to become slow.
Keep your theme and all plugins updated.
Get rid of everything that you are not using by deleting unnecessary media or old plugins because all of these things can make your site sluggish and slow, prompting visitors to leave quickly.
Think about what you can do for your readers. Make the experience of visiting your site one that they want to repeat over and over by giving them helpful information and by being easily approachable.
The audience is what it’s all about. Remember, if you can keep your readers interested, engaged and happy, then they will stay on your site longer.
For our epic blogging tips and info, get access to our FREE Resource Library. We have filled it with helpful checklists, worksheets and much more!
Did you find this post helpful? If so, please share it on Pinterest!
Leave a Reply