ARE PEOPLE BOUNCING OUT OF YOUR WEBSITE!? IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND YOUR BOUNCE RATE!
I've been known to say that SEO is dying and being replaced ... and while I still believe that certain companies will always benefit from pouring money into SEO, it's important to know for sure if:
YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE COMPANIES!
But how do you know? How do you know if all the money you spend on SEO is worth it and if it's helping you??
1. KNOW YOUR BOUNCE RATE
Sure, SEO companies can get you TRAFFIC ... but traffic isn't always beneficial. Here is a way it's NOT beneficial ... if people bounce out IMMEDIATELY. Your bounce rate is the number of times a person clicks into your website and then clicks out without visiting another page ... basically: did they go beyond the page they came in on to see more?? No?? Then you have a high bounce rate (a high bounce rate is anything above 65%). If any of the following are true for you:
Your website is ugly
Your website is dated
Your website is confusing
Your website is chaotic
Your website isn't designed to attract your target market
... and you pay a SEO company to send you leads and traffic ... and then the traffic sees ^^ any and all of that above ... welp, they may help HURT YOU for SEO because Google measures websites with something called UEO << User Experience Optimization >> and that 'temperature' or reading is directly related to the number of page views your website gets. Make sense?? In other words: if you are paying big bucks to a search engine optimization company and your website is F-UGLY ... then you better fix that and quick ... or just stop paying the SEO company until you can fix your website ;)
2. KNOW WHERE YOUR LEADS ARE COMING FROM
Leads are awesome ... leads that aren't 'your hopeful client' are just teasers!! If Google is sending you oodles and oodles of traffic and inquiries because your SEO company is doing their job of 'getting you traffic' and none of them can afford you or aren't your ideal client or aren't even in your area of expertise ... well, that f*cking sucks!! This means that your leads from SEO are NOT helping you ... and while the traffic may 'feel good' it's really pointless ...
3. KNOW WHAT YOUR MOST POPULAR POSTS ARE
If the money you are spending on SEO is sending you lots of yummy traffic and you have super popular posts that are getting 'one click in' (bounce rate food!) and that's it ... then create some enticing 'call to action' clickables in those posts to generate more than that 1 page view. Make the money you are spending on SEO worth it by creating your own way to generate more than 1 click in to your website.
Your most popular posts will tell you a lot about whether your SEO money spending is well used ... if you are a wedding planner and you have a lot of traffic coming to your website with searches like: HOW TO PLAN YOUR OWN DESTINATION WEDDING ... and you have a post that gives a few 'destination wedding tips' ... well, call me crazy, but that traffic probably isn't looking to spend money on a wedding planner ;) and while that traffic may excite you, they are after your website for the WRONG reasons ... get what I'm saying?
ANALYTICALLY CHALLENGED?
If you rarely read your analytics then the time is now to start! Squarespace analytics are really educational and I find myself popping in there at least once a week to see what's up ... for instance ... the analytics for the last 31 days on my blog show me that the following blog posts have been my most popular:
... a post I wrote about Instagram sucking now ... a post on tips for blogging in Squarespace ... and this one about reasons why you are a success in the wedding industry ...
USING MY OWN ADVICE IN AN EXAMPLE
Let's say that this post generates a lot of searches for people wanting to learn about 'bounce rates' ... I would have two goals within this post.
Educate and prove my blog to be a great place to find tips and advice for running your business and making your website work for you
Showcase myself as an expert in the website design field and share my work
... so, I would find a way in this post to create 'in links' that keep the visitor ON MY WEBSITE ... I've already done that above when I shared 3 links to popular blog posts on The Editor's Touch ... next I may do something like this:
If you find that your bounce rate leaves little to be desired and you think it's time for a refresh on your website then check out some of my most recently launched websites and give me a call to discuss if we're a good fit!
