Comments on: Simple Steps that Reduced my Bounce Rate http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed Cate extends Human implements Programmer Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:57:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: kittenthebad http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-696 kittenthebad Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:37:55 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-696 It depends, if you only stay on the first page - yes. This is why blogs typically have a higher bounce rate than a regular website.<br><br>And yeah you can have that, or teaser links to make people click through to read the whole thing. Then your bounce rate is a better measure of how many people don't bother to read past the first paragraph, which is potentially helpful. It depends, if you only stay on the first page – yes. This is why blogs typically have a higher bounce rate than a regular website.

And yeah you can have that, or teaser links to make people click through to read the whole thing. Then your bounce rate is a better measure of how many people don't bother to read past the first paragraph, which is potentially helpful.

]]> By: kittenthebad http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-519 kittenthebad Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:37:55 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-519 It depends, if you only stay on the first page - yes. This is why blogs typically have a higher bounce rate than a regular website.<br><br>And yeah you can have that, or teaser links to make people click through to read the whole thing. Then your bounce rate is a better measure of how many people don't bother to read past the first paragraph, which is potentially helpful. It depends, if you only stay on the first page – yes. This is why blogs typically have a higher bounce rate than a regular website.

And yeah you can have that, or teaser links to make people click through to read the whole thing. Then your bounce rate is a better measure of how many people don't bother to read past the first paragraph, which is potentially helpful.

]]> By: Michael Kozakewich http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-516 Michael Kozakewich Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:16:05 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-516 I visit your site whenever you post something, and then leave right after I get to reading those tabs. Does that count as a bounce?<br>I think bounce rate must be misleading, for a blog, because there will be a ton of visitors who have already visited the site and who simply show up to read one article at a time.<br><br>Now that I think of it, I wonder if this is why some news sites have multi-page articles (besides keeping things above the fold and adding breaks). I visit your site whenever you post something, and then leave right after I get to reading those tabs. Does that count as a bounce?
I think bounce rate must be misleading, for a blog, because there will be a ton of visitors who have already visited the site and who simply show up to read one article at a time.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if this is why some news sites have multi-page articles (besides keeping things above the fold and adding breaks).

]]> By: sachac http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-512 sachac Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:24:18 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-512 Oh, mostly that Disqus requires Javascript or a click-through to comment,<br>and some geeks using non-JS-capable browsers. (Like w3 for Emacs. There's at<br>least one person in the last month who has used vi to look at my site, I kid<br>you not. Text editors gone wild.)<br><br>I do like the reply-by-email bit for Disqus, though. Let's see if it works.<br><br>I'm quite bursty when it comes to writing posts. Some days I'll write four<br>or five, some days I'll be busy. Spacing them out--except for the odd post<br>that I really do want to post that day--makes me think about what's timely<br>and what's timeless. =)<br><br>My weekly statistics tend to look like my monthly statistics. My incoming<br>searches and referrals are dominated by Emacs or Drupal, even though I<br>haven't been writing about either much lately. Yay archives!<br><br>Analytics: It's good to segment your stats by new/returning, too. Might give<br>you some interesting questions. I've just started looking at new referrals -<br>new site visitors coming in through other people's links. Must play around<br>with these numbers some more in order to get a sense of what questions are<br>good to ask... Oh, mostly that Disqus requires Javascript or a click-through to comment,
and some geeks using non-JS-capable browsers. (Like w3 for Emacs. There's at
least one person in the last month who has used vi to look at my site, I kid
you not. Text editors gone wild.)

I do like the reply-by-email bit for Disqus, though. Let's see if it works.

I'm quite bursty when it comes to writing posts. Some days I'll write four
or five, some days I'll be busy. Spacing them out–except for the odd post
that I really do want to post that day–makes me think about what's timely
and what's timeless. =)

My weekly statistics tend to look like my monthly statistics. My incoming
searches and referrals are dominated by Emacs or Drupal, even though I
haven't been writing about either much lately. Yay archives!

Analytics: It's good to segment your stats by new/returning, too. Might give
you some interesting questions. I've just started looking at new referrals -
new site visitors coming in through other people's links. Must play around
with these numbers some more in order to get a sense of what questions are
good to ask…

]]> By: kittenthebad http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-511 kittenthebad Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:53:24 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-511 What puts you on the fence about Disqus? I went with it because I *really* didn't want to use CAPTCHAs and I'm pretty happy with it so far :-) What puts you on the fence about Disqus? I went with it because I *really* didn't want to use CAPTCHAs and I'm pretty happy with it so far :-)

]]> By: kittenthebad http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-510 kittenthebad Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:49:32 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-510 Your scheduling inspired me to do this! I subscribe by RSS, and I really noticed the difference and thought it was an improvement. Actually, because of this I now subscribe to my own blog (is that weird?) because things go out a little while after I wrote them, it's a good time for a final proofread and I get a better sense of how things show up in Google Reader.<br><br>It's working well, I don't think it's changed (reduced) the volume of posts per week so much as spaced them out evenly and it's good for my self-discipline. I've not had more than 5 queued up and sometimes it prompts me to write something - like this post - that I've been meaning to write about but hasn't been written because there have been more exciting things going on.<br><br>For analytics on this day, it's not a great solution, but you could just take the range right down to just one day and then look at your traffic stats? Then you might get an idea of how far analytics is off. Once all your traffic is amalgamated, it gets difficult/impossible to see short term patterns. Your scheduling inspired me to do this! I subscribe by RSS, and I really noticed the difference and thought it was an improvement. Actually, because of this I now subscribe to my own blog (is that weird?) because things go out a little while after I wrote them, it's a good time for a final proofread and I get a better sense of how things show up in Google Reader.

It's working well, I don't think it's changed (reduced) the volume of posts per week so much as spaced them out evenly and it's good for my self-discipline. I've not had more than 5 queued up and sometimes it prompts me to write something – like this post – that I've been meaning to write about but hasn't been written because there have been more exciting things going on.

For analytics on this day, it's not a great solution, but you could just take the range right down to just one day and then look at your traffic stats? Then you might get an idea of how far analytics is off. Once all your traffic is amalgamated, it gets difficult/impossible to see short term patterns.

]]> By: sachac http://www.catehuston.com/blog/2010/02/10/simple-steps-that-reduced-my-bounce-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-509 sachac Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:22:04 +0000 http://catehuston.com/blog/?p=1602#comment-509 Disqus is interesting, but I'm still on the fence about it. =)<br><br>I use the same 8AM schedule, too. How's that working out for you? It's hard to stick with one post a day--I've got blog posts scheduled until the end of the month--but it turns out to be good for making decisions.<br><br>I need to figure out how to get Google Analytics to tell me the clickthroughs on my Random Posts and On This Day widgets. I think the numbers might be a little off because of the changing URLs. It's good for more discovery, though.<br><br>Rock on! Disqus is interesting, but I'm still on the fence about it. =)

I use the same 8AM schedule, too. How's that working out for you? It's hard to stick with one post a day–I've got blog posts scheduled until the end of the month–but it turns out to be good for making decisions.

I need to figure out how to get Google Analytics to tell me the clickthroughs on my Random Posts and On This Day widgets. I think the numbers might be a little off because of the changing URLs. It's good for more discovery, though.

Rock on!

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