Boing, Boing, Boing

The author of Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik, considers the Bounce Rate the sexiest web metric ever. I agree. He says the Bounce Rate measures the phenomenon: “I came, I puked, I left.” In other words, someone came to your site, didn’t like it, and left. You didn’t get even one tiny click! You failed. 
 

The good news is that Bounce Rate identifies the low-hanging fruit that need to be fixed now. If people are turned off by the page, fix it. A recent Mashable article offers some advice on how to lower your Bounce Rate. Here are two tips that I found to be particularly helpful when addressing Bounce Rate:

Tip 1: Be Mindful of Ad Placement. Let’s face it; people are turned off by advertisements. Obviously the ads saying “Buy Me” in blinking neon text is a real turn off, but Mashable had some other notes. It said to take care not to place ads too close to your site navigation (which can cause accidental ad clicks) and don’t put too many ads above the fold of the page. Makes sense to me.

Tip 2: Your Message Should be Immediately Obvious. According to Mashable, one of the biggest causes of a high Bounce Rate is visitor confusion. If a new visitor to your site has to figure out or hunt down information telling them what your site does, that’s an immediate red flag. Your site’s purpose should be immediately evident, and expressed clearly in both its design and its content. It recommended using headlines and graphics to highlight important features and key information. Also, your content should be organized and supplemented in such a way so that it guides the reader through the experience. I couldn’t agree more. Sites should be easily scanned and clutter-free.

These tips, among others, offered by Mashable are helpful at addressing Bounce Rate, but the article did not consider content. In my opinion, relevant, focused, content is still paramount. Often, I get bogged down reading a site with too much content. I have to scan through the page to find what I want. I like sites that tell me briefly what I want to know right away, and then let me read the rest of the story if I want. It is also important for the page content to speak my language. It has to be easy to understand, up-to-date, and concise.  In addition to the actual words, the web offers the opportunity to engage the reader with different fonts, colors, and images. On the flip side, using white space can also be crucial, as it provides a breather to a viewer who is possibly drowning in a pool of information.

Another tip I would add to the Mashable article is to make sure you are using the proper SEO techniques for the site. For example, I was recently working on a website focused on carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is a common term used in the energy industry but it also happens to be the name of a popular skateboarding e-tailer. Our energy CCS site was competing with the skateboarding CCS e-tailer. I can only imagine how many visitors came to our site thinking they were getting skateboarding goods, and really they ended up on a geeky science-based site. We needed to find a way to distinguish ourselves from the other CCS site.

If these techniques are tried and the page still fails, you can always remove it. Sometimes “less is more.” A page that isn’t working isn’t necessary.

Search is dead! Long live social!

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a hot topic in the web world that continues to evolve on what can seem to be a daily basis. An approach that worked six months ago may no longer work today. Some are beginning to think that SEO may be dead and they need to turn to other tactics to get visitors.

In a recent Mashable interview, The Atlantic Media Company’s Scott Havens, senior VP of finance and digital operations, said, “Sixteen months ago we received the same number of monthly referrals from search as social. Now 40% of traffic comes from social media… Truly [our writers] are not really thinking about SEO anymore. Now it’s about how we can spin a story so that it goes viral.”

I think the point Havens was trying to make is that too often, web writers can get caught up in writing for SEO. They get consumed by trying to optimize their page content for search engines by using the right keywords. As a result, the story suffers. It isn’t as eloquent, relevant, engaging, or funny. Havens was basically saying it is more important to write a good story, than to write for a machine. He certainly has a point there, but I would argue that good writing that goes viral is SEO. If you are making an effort to get your content shared, you’re also helping your SEO at the same time.

Today, a comprehensive approach using traditional SEO techniques with social media can be very effective.  Viral content will boost your SEO because search engines pay more attention to social signals. Viral stories tell search engines that your site is active, current, and invested in the needs of your audience. Additionally, the social approach to SEO allows the content to be more relevant to what the visitor is looking for than by relying on organic searches alone. If a story is viral, it is shared with others interested in the same story. This will improve the Bounce Rate and will likely result in more engagement with the site.  Let the story come first, then follow with SEO. This is truly a win-win for the content provider and the visitor.

A blog article in Search Engine Watch titled “7 Social Media & SEO Tactics Businesses Will Adopt in 2012” echo’s this approach. The article noted that over the past few years, we’ve seen a mad rush (and budget) from companies to create content with the sole purpose of creating content for SEO. Instead, what we’ll see in 2012 is a more structured approach by businesses to create content that provides a unique value to readers resulting in higher engagement levels with their community members. The article notes that we’ll see a more holistic approach from businesses with content, whether its videos, how-to content pieces, or other types of content. In the end, quality content will become more important. After all, content is King. Or is it?