If you read Dev’s june traffic report, you will notice He has a very low bounce rate of about 28.38%. One of the things I noticed in common in the comments section is that a number of people were complaining about high bounce rates so I decided to write a post on how to reduce your bounce rate.
This post will be outlining 7 Guaranteed ways to reduce your bounce rate below:
1. Your Blog Loading Time: One of the major element of high bounce rate is long loading time, some blogs take minutes to load which is not proper.
Most first readers (or even regular readers) who come to your blog and discovers your blog is taking too long to load will most likely stay away from your blog.
The web generation of readers are impatient and they want everything at the click of a mouse, if you are making it difficult for them to get what they want then they will simply leave your blog.
You might want to install the wordpress plugin “w3 total cache” (You can search for it in the plugin section of your wordpress blog). If after installing this plugin and your blog is still not loading fast, you should contact your host to resolve things, if they don’t then a change of host is recommended. A good host is Hostgator (TechnShare is hosted with hostgator).
2. Give Your Visitors What They Want: If you write about making money online and the type of visitors you get are those looking for fashion products or technology products then you are wasting your time. Those kind of visitors are unwanted visitors and will also significantly affect your bounce rate.
Having the right type of visitors will significantly help lower your bounce rate.
If you are writing about blogging and your visitors are looking for blogging tips then they will be more inclined to stay on your blog and read more of your articles which will in turn lead to reduced bounce rate.
3. Improve Your Linking Structure: Another major thing you can do to improve your bounce rate is by having a great linking structure, you should be deep linking to many of your blog articles because this will significantly improve your organic search engine rankings and will also lead your visitors to many of your pages which will lead to reduced bounce rate.
You can also decide to be displaying related posts because this will also help you reduce your bounce rate.
4. A Better Headline – With a Well Matched Post: Writing a better headline will significantly increase your click through rate which will in turn improve your bounce rate.
Another thing many bloggers do is to write better headlines with poor posts, this is not good because when readers visit your blog and they could not see what relates to the headline in your post then they would no longer stay on your blog.
You should also work on improving your post introduction because if people are reading your post, the introduction can determine their level of engagement with your post.
5. Write Regularly OR Remove Dates on Your Posts: One thing common about website readers is that if they come across an old blog post or a blog that is not regularly updated, the next thing they will do is click away from the blog believing that the content is no longer relevant. You can overcome this problem by updating your blog regularly and by writing timeless content.
Another great thing to do is remove dates from your blog because this will also remove any problem caused by dates.
6. Use Clear Navigation: Another thing you should do is to make sure you have a clear navigation and a user friendly theme.
For example, users believe links are usually blue and hyperlinked, if you have a theme that does differently, you can simply modify the CSS or simply change to a better theme of your choice.
Another important thing is to have a clear navigation, make sure your blog is not over loaded but easily accessible. Let it be easy to click through other pages on your blog.
7. Only Get High Quality Traffic: The quality of your traffic will determine the type of visitors and bounce rate you will have. It is very important to get quality traffic only, you should not just waste your time on getting useless traffic such as traffic exchange, autosurf e.t.c. You can read this post on 7 ways to get quality traffic and also get my free ebook on how to do that (web traffic explosion).
Having a high bounce rate can really affect a blogger, even though this is not a sign that your blog sucks or that you are not providing value but it is an indication that something is wrong somewhere and following the above 7 steps is “Guaranteed” to significantly lower your blog bounce rate.
Related Posts.
Tagged as: bounc rate, reduce bounce rate, traffic








{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tips Onibalusi.
“Having the right type of visitors will significantly help lower your bounce rate.”
I agree. It is important to get targeted traffic. Only then can your bounce rate be really low.
“7. Only Get High Quality Traffic: The quality of your traffic will determine the type of visitors and bounce rate you will have. ”
Yup. This is true again. If you are getting useless traffic, which is not interested in your niche, then they will leave immediately, and your bounce rate will be high.
Thanks for sharing these tips on reducing bounce rate Onibalusi.
Kindest,
Nabeel
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 6, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Hi Nabeel,
Yeah! You are absolutely right.
Many bloggers just go for any type of traffic and this is not the best.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..How to Write Popular Posts That Get Traffic – Analysis of 5 Top Blogs
You’re right Oni. We just don’t go to any type of traffic, we should look for a targeted traffic and post relevant contents to our audience.
Kind regards,
Gary
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Exactly Gary,
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Well,this article is nice to me
Thanks for your sharing
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 6, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi,
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..How to Write Popular Posts That Get Traffic – Analysis of 5 Top Blogs
Twitter: tnsblog
July 6, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hey Onibalusi,
Awesome Post man. Those are some great tips man.
I think design and high quality content is most important.
Thanks for sharing this great Post dude. Great work.
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 6, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Yeah Dev!
Exactly.
Thanks so much for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..How to Write Popular Posts That Get Traffic – Analysis of 5 Top Blogs
Twitter: mkakan
July 6, 2010 at 6:30 pm
very helpful post,
i don’t post very regularly,i will have to remove my dates and also look at my structure.
thanks for the tips
mk akan´s last blog ..Blog project post and Resource post -more blog post ideas
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 11:48 am
Hi MK,
That will really be great.
Thanks so much for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalsi Bamidele´s last blog ..7 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know
Twitter: DanielSharkov
July 6, 2010 at 6:55 pm
There’s no doubt that big loading times are a problem. I’m getting very frustrated when I have to wait longer than several seconds for a site to load. If the loading goes longer, I’m exiting the site in almost 100% of the cases. The other tips are also nice.
Daniel Sharkov´s last blog ..SEO Lies – Myths and Truths About SEO
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 11:49 am
Exactly Daniel,
Glad you did something about it,
-Onibalusi
Onibalsi Bamidele´s last blog ..7 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know
Twitter: markbell10
July 6, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Hey Onibalusi,
Great post! I particularly agree about the load time. I recently took my Alexa info off my site as it was taking far too long to load. I figured, if I was tempted to close the browser, what will my visitors do? I’ll be sure to check out the plugin you recommended!
Cheers,
Mark
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 11:50 am
Hi Mark,
Exactly! Yeah, I am happy to help.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalsi Bamidele´s last blog ..7 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know
Twitter: babyboykharim
July 6, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Well I think I have mastered this already, my current bounce rate is 1.98%
Great post and thanks for sharing
Kharim´s last blog ..4 Small Reasons You Should Read Other Blogs
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Hi Kharim,
That is really great
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: FebapLiew
July 7, 2010 at 1:19 am
hey oni,
great to see another of your post up.
basically bounce rate is one of the metrics that I keep watch of my blog other than traffic,page ranks, new vs returning .. ( and the whole lotsa stats =P) but yes, bounce rate is significantly important because it can really tell us how our blog is performing overally.
i personally believe that page load time plays a very crucial part in influencing your potential readers of whether they ought to stay or not.
Which is why, i always try to load my website within various location. just so I can roughly estimate how long it takes to fire it up… if you would have noticed, i put lotsa pictures on my blog and i try not to let this be at the way. i would like to ensure that I continue putting up the best interface my blog should ought to be without having to jeopardize the load time.
However, I would still continue to tweak here and there just so I would get the best. =)
thanks for the nice post.
cheers
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Hi Febap,
Yeah! Page load time is very important to the success of a blog.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: hokya
July 7, 2010 at 2:50 am
i agree with removing the dates
that trick works
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Hi Mr Hokya,
Exactly!
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: darrenlcarter
July 7, 2010 at 5:54 am
Good post. I’ve definitely been doing some of this. My bounce rate is a 4.8%. I really like the idea for removing the dates on your posts. My bounce rate really changed once I added some video though.
Good post!
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Darren L Carter´s last blog ..Preview- A-Bomb Interview
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:44 pm
That is really great to hear Darren.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: shoutmeloud
July 7, 2010 at 7:39 am
Some really nice points and most imp is page load time.. here are few from me:
Internal linking: You can use SEO smart link or insight Wordpress plugin
Related posts below post
Recent post, random posts and popular posts helps a lot…
Harsh Agrawal´s last blog ..Thesis 1.8 Coming Soon: Download Thesis Now
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Exactly Harsh,
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Thanks for sharing this Oni. I agree that blog with a longer loading time can make your visitors stay away, make it more convenient for them to access your site.
Keep it up!
Regards,
Gary
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Hi Gary,
Exactly. Loading time is really an important factor.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: DennisEdell
July 7, 2010 at 4:17 pm
The way you described Give Your Visitors What They Want definitely sounds like a marketing/promotion issue that they need to work on
Improve Your Linking Structure: Don’t just link from newer to older. Every once in a while, go back and link older to newer as well.
Remove Dates on Your Posts can seriously come back to bite you in the a$$. Make darn sure your content is “timeless” before doing this…
Ex. SEO: I feel confident is saying, a year from now, many tips will no longer be viable as things with the search engines change so often.
All in all, excellent article buddy.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..UPDATES-
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Exactly Dennis,
You are absolutely right here.
Thanks so much for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
In my view page load depends mainly on the web-host provider.
I have found most shared hosting a nightmare and contribute substantially to bouncing rates.
Activating most of the plugins is another factor like what Dennis Edell says here.
Benextmillionaire´s last blog ..Traffic Generation System
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 7, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Exactly.
Hostgator is a better option you might want to give a trial.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Twitter: DennisEdell
July 8, 2010 at 7:01 pm
I too give a big thumbs u for Hostgators shared hosting. I’ve been online using HG since early 2000…the best there is.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Have You Written Any WordPress 30 Feature Posts
I have to admit I’m one of those visitors who hates not seeing dates on posts. The thing is, we know when a post is new because it’s the first one we come to, but after that it’s irritating as sin. I’ll rarely look at older posts without a date, because I’ve found that sometimes I come upon information that’s dated and it’s irked me.
Mitch´s last blog ..10 Truths About Health Clubs
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 9, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Hi Mitch,
That is great.
It is good to hear another person’s opinion about this and I think I will start using dates again on my blog
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..Do You Have to Spend a Fortune to Make Money Online
Twitter: websitebegin
July 8, 2010 at 6:00 am
Great post!
If your website takes a minute to load, how will you expect people to stay? They’ll just “bounce” away and that will make your bounce rate also bounce and go towards 100%.
It’s like having a store and telling potential customers that they need to get a hacksaw and cut off the lock on the door to get in. Will they stay and try to get in if they’ve never seen your products before? Probably not.
Twitter: FebapLiew
July 8, 2010 at 6:16 am
hey joe,
i love how the way you put it into such an analogy.
straight to the point to why a low bounce rate is inevitably important .
cheers
Febap Liew | Making Money Online Today´s last blog ..I Hate Those beep Spammers – Pardon me
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 9, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Hi Joe,
You are absolutely right.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..Do You Have to Spend a Fortune to Make Money Online
Twitter: netchunks
July 8, 2010 at 10:26 am
I observed that the reason of most of my visitor bounces was dead link which remain till now due to my blog posts going down when my previous host went offline. It also is related to number of times I changed permalinks. Another method one could use to reduce bounce rate is adding some popular post widget, random post widget and most important of all a related post plugin
Shiva´s last blog ..SEOMoz’s Awesome Free Ebook – SEO – The Free Beginner’s Guide
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 9, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Hi Shiva,
Glad you know the cause, so you can fix it
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..Do You Have to Spend a Fortune to Make Money Online
Twitter: earnbyblog
July 8, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Nice points thank. Popular post, recent post and related post widget also help to keep your readers involved
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 9, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Exactly Alamin,
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..Do You Have to Spend a Fortune to Make Money Online
Twitter: element321
July 8, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Great post. I try and follow all of your steps and my bounce stays real low and steady. My recommendation to clients, is pretty much what you mentioned. – Thanks for sharing…
element321´s last blog ..External Comment Systems May Not Be the Best Option for a Blog Owner
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 9, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Hi James,
That is really great
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..Do You Have to Spend a Fortune to Make Money Online
Twitter: DiTesco
July 8, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Solid tips here and the only thing I am not so sure about is #3. Unless I understood this wrong, it is difficult to control which visitors you will have on your blog. Obviously, the more relevant your content is based on your chosen niche all the better. Another thing I found useful that helps reduces bounce rates is by including videos in your post. If you have a very good content and the video also related (say a tutorial) it is more likely that people will stay longer on your blog thus decreasing your bounce rates. All in all, these are good solid advices.
DiTesco´s last blog ..How To Build Links- Share Content And More Using Amplify
Twitter: dataentryforall
July 9, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Hi Ditesco,
In #3, I meant you should be interlinking to other pages and posts on your blog.
Concerning the video option, that also works.
Thanks a lot for the nice comment,
-Onibalusi
Onibalusi Bamidele´s last blog ..Do You Have to Spend a Fortune to Make Money Online
Twitter: melvinblog
July 10, 2010 at 1:55 am
Goodw writeup man..The key point here is to write good content. With my blog, I continue to see that those people who go to my best posts usually stay 100-150% times longer than those who just end up on lets say an archive page or other ones.
Clearly if you get them reading then, they’ll stay longer and hopefully more posts.
Melvin´s last blog ..The Main Benefit of Joining Contests For me and you too-
Twitter: taless
July 10, 2010 at 4:23 pm
I agree about the time it takes for a site to load. If I go to a site that is taking too long, I will move on to another one.
Twitter: coolgadgets1
July 11, 2010 at 1:07 am
I think new bloggers will be happy to get any traffic initially but it hurts their bounce rate if the audience do not stay to read the content.
You are right about long loading time as people are impatient to wait to read your content unless it is really helpful or authoritative.
Paul Tech´s last blog ..World Cup 2010- Paul the Octopus Picks Spain To Win In Final Showdown
The number 3 way is the best way. Internal linking is the best way and that is what google is trying to make bloggers do.
Jenny barbie´s last blog ..Barbie Toy Story 3 Made For Each Other Gift Set
Twitter: Murlu
July 14, 2010 at 12:45 am
Hitting your readers with related post (with a plugin) and by interlinking will keep your readers around. It all comes down to making sure it stays relevant to your subject.
It can be a little difficult in the beginning when you don’t have many posts but once you build up and keep a good interlinking structure you’ll keep em around for quite some time.
Murlu´s last blog ..Write 10 Articles A Day- Market Yourself And Avoid Burn Out
Twitter: pestcemetery
July 14, 2010 at 2:25 am
Thanks, that was some good stuff. Whenever I grade my blog on line the critique is overall pretty good except it says I have too many pics. I didn’t think it was that important but I better rethink it.
Thanks again
Twitter: shashank_1990
July 17, 2010 at 12:32 am
hey Onibalusi Bamidele..
amazing post dude,
thanks for those special tips
keep sharing:)
I think your article was really a strong kick off to a potential series of posts about this topic. So many people act like they understand what they are preaching about when it comes to this area and generally, nearly no one actually get it. You seem to understand it however, so I think you ought to run with it. Thanks a lot!
A good way to reduce your load time is to check your site out in Google Webmastertools, they have a new section under the labs which checks your site performance and if its too slow they give reasons why and some advice to make it quicker. Load time is a very important factor in bounce rate. No one wants to wait all day for a site to load.
Twitter: Abhishek_saini1
August 8, 2010 at 4:43 am
Hey Onibalusi..
Post is giving all value.
Good to see you doing great work evrywhere.
Abhishek´s last blog ..11 Essential Home Business Tools You Must Have
Twitter: zen2health
August 9, 2010 at 7:00 am
One tip someone recently shared with me is to check your Google Analytics to find your high traffic pages. Then see which ones have a high bounce rate. After that, you check to see which searches lead them to that page and focus on making sure the content is relevant to what they were searching for.
Karen´s last blog ..Benefits of exercise for the elderly- study
Don’t you think it also depends on the type of blog as to how high your bounce rate is? For example, if I have a blog on legal problems it’s going to have a different bounce rate than a mommy blog would. Some blog posts address a specific problem while others are more based on an ongoing story. Just a thought.
TJ McDowell´s last blog ..Adobe Lightroom – Getting Serious About Photography