Reduce your Bounce Rate in 15 Steps

A very big problem in our statistics, in addition to traffic, conversion, returning visitors, etc.. is the bounce Rate. The smaller the better. But...

What is bounce rate?

Bounce Rate (also known as the output %) is a term that is used to analyze traffic and quality. We define a "bounce" when a visitor leaves a page (one site) without visiting other pages during a browsing session. This session differs from a monitoring system to another, averaging about 20-30 minutes. If a site will exceed this time limit of 1 second, it will record the bounce.

If the Bounce Rate's percentage is low, we have a quality traffic that is interested in the website, and basically it's a sign that the visitor can be converted. Websites have an average bounce rate pretty high - 70%. A value that is acceptable, although the ideal would be keeping it below 50%.

15 steps to minimize your Bounce Rate

I will present the ways that helped us to reach these values.

• Article

Below is a series of steps that need to be followed in order to "prepare" the article for the bounce rate reduction.

1. Articles related (similar)
   One of the most important steps that must be considered is the addition of related items at the end of the article. These articles should provide topics already discussed in the community, which treats the same subject. A Wordpress plugin is YARPP are satisfied.
   
   
2. Thank those who commented first
   Yes, it can be stressful but it is a good way to capture the reader. A comment may mean that he has been attracted more than many others so he should be treated more carefully. A very good plugin for this, which I haven't used so far but i recommend it is Comment Relish.
   
   
3. Notify readers about new comments
   As in the above point, a reader that commented deserves more attention being a potential future faithful reader. Therefore, he needs a lot of interaction with us at the start (remembering the blog). The reason is simple and it goes after an old saying: "The eyes that aren't seen are forgoten" and is completed by another statement of mine: "the longer you stay, the harder you give up.
   
   
4. Links to internal articles
   When you have the opportunity and discuss information that has been detailed in past articles, please remember to refer to them. Careful, to much does harm!
   
   
5. Tags
   Although many people say that the tags are unnecessary but they aren't for readers or search engines. Very often, the tags can be a very good resource to similar items. They must be present on the article's page.
   
   
6. Comment, comment, comment!
   One of the mistakes of many (probably made of pride) is to allow readers to quarrel among juveniles without interfering in their discussions. One of the best way to restore the reader and make him do more than just reading the article is to enter into conversation with him. Discussions arise controversies, and this bring comments and potential future loyal readers, but also reduce your bounce rate.
   
   
7. The way articles are written
   ... can be an extremely important factor. If the articles are written for users and encourages human instinct to leave a comment it's perfect and were back to step 6. However, there is a huge problem - we can not define a style that offers guaranteed success.

• Home

1. Articles Summary
   It is shown that the main page should contain along with the rest of the archives, only a summary of the articles. Thus, the reader will read the summary / title and will have to go further to read the entire article.
   
   
2. Search Engine Presence
   I recommend the presence of an internal search engine to facilitate navigation through the pages. Any user will have at some point to seek an article, and in a large database is difficult (even I use the search engine on the homepage).
   
   
3. Recent Comments
   The presence of recent comments provides a plus of dinamism. Older users are accustomed to pursue that part of the page to see whether the items have been discussed. Even one day without an article written up the comments will drastically reduce your bounce rate.
   
   
4. Popular Articles
   I believe that the presence of popular articles may have an impact, a small one that's right. These items can "define" the community and will be very interesting to readers.
   
   
5. The presence of the tag cloud
   I remembered the "article" about tags. The presence of a cloud with an attractive design can be beneficial. Not only that defines a community, but may help the reader find specific topics.
   
   
6. The presence of the archive
   The presence of the archive never hurts, if it doesn't disturb the interface.
   
   
7. Logo and Homepage
   I recommend that you put a link in the logo that refers to the main page. It is very important because so many people have become accustomed to this and it is very easy to go to home
   
   
8. Interface (theme)
   Another important aspect is the interface of the website. A user is first attracted by the design and the by the content (this being devoured later). If the interface is professional and represents the community, the better.

Conclusion

These are some tips that i recommend you use them at any time on a blog to keep bounce rates as low as possible. What do you do to improve this value? What is your Bounce Rate?