Generally blogs have a very high bounce rates. If your blog has a bounce rate of 40% to 50% then you should be having great content. Usually, many blogs result in a bounce rate of over 80%. But there are ways to reduce your bounce rates.
What is a bounce rate?
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your website without visiting any other page or before the specified session time.
According to Google Analysts, an accepted bounce rate would be between 20% and 50%. It also states that a bounce rate over 50% is a matter of concern.
Reason for High Bounce Rates
Blogs usually contain huge content, especially, if the blog is updated on a daily basis by more than one editor. Hence, search engines love indexing blogs. Search engines feel blogs have fresh content.
You would have noticed any information posted in your website appearing in Google’s Index in few minutes. This can result in the website ranking high even for unrelated content. If a visitor was searching for an online purchase and you had written an article about the product, the visitor might leave your site if he reaches and finds that you do not sell the product.
Similarly, many blogs have subscriptions. People who have subscribed for your articles would just read the article which interests them. Subscribers can also lead to high bounce rates.
How to decrease Bounce Rates
The best way to decrease bounce rates is make your website more interactive. This can make the visitor stay on your website.
- While writing articles, also ask for feedbacks and comments on your thoughts
- Let your articles be thought provoking and force the user to comment
- Include a “Related Post” plug-in which can list related articles by using your tags.
- Include a “Most Popular Posts” plug-in which can increase the curiosity of the reader
- Reduce external links on your site. Try to open them in a new window if possible.
- Optimize your site navigation. If you feel your template is not attractive or interactive, try using different templates until you finalize on one.
These suggestions can definitely help you decrease bounce rates. If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to post your comments.