Online SEO Blog, Search Engine Optimization, Online Marketing Blog

Here are 7 tips I've found can reduce bounce rate. They really do work, unless you're an overworked blogger who's running an agency, writing a book and has 2 kids under the age of 10:

1. Answer questions. When someone comes to your site, they're probably not thinking "Gee, I wonder what their office looks like." Instead, they're asking, "Do you have the mountain bike I really want"? Which question do you answer? Answer the latter and you'll keep more visitors. (Inspired by Specialized.com)
2. Simplify. Believe it or not, every person in your company does not get to contribute one link to your home page. The average person is most comfortable processing 5-7 choices at a time. Don't overwhelm them. Simplify by removing options or at least grouping and prioritizing them. How many links does Google have on their home page? How about Apple? Look at your traffic reports, find out what visitors really want, and then link to that and only that. If anyone in your office whines, blame me.
3. Remove autoplay videos. My first reflex if a video starts playing and music that sounds like a bad 70's porn flick comes streaming out of my speakers is to hit the back button. I'm willing to bet most people feel the same way. Remove the video altogether, or at least have it paused.
4. Improve pageload time. If your home page takes more than 8 seconds to look intelligible, you're probably shedding visitors. Note I said 'look intelligible', not 'load completely'. If there's a huge image or a video that takes longer, that's OK, as long as it doesn't prevent the rest of the page from loading. Trim 2-3 seconds off your pageload time and watch the bounce rate drop. Proof? When I first relaunched my blog, a bug in the code led to 10-15 second load times. Once we fixed it, the bounce rate dropped by 30%.
5. Write a better headline. A punchy, take-action headline will keep visitors. Instead of "Enterprise Security Solutions for A Web 2.0 Workplace", try "Protect Your Network" (I made this example up).
6. Move the important stuff up. If you have a store, show products near the top of the page. If you're promoting a candidate, put that message at the top. Always put your call to action up high, front-and-center. If you're uncomfortable doing that, you may have the wrong call to action.
7. Dump the popup. I shouldn't even have to say this any more, but if you have a popup or other annoyance on your home page, get rid of it. You're losing a lot more than you're gaining, plus you're making me hate you.