Stop Trying to Decrease Your Website Bounce Rate

Encourage your website visitors to leave quickly. Not within seconds, of course, but stop thinking that the longer they stay the better. For example, what if they stay longer because they're trying to find something useful on your site only to give up in hopeless frustration? Or what if they stay because they're reading a long blog post, but there was nothing valuable enough to convince them to subscribe to your email list?

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Move People Along Quickly

Your website visitors have too much information to consume and not enough time. Why not give them a precise answer to an urgent problem they're having that leaves them excited to subscribe to your email list? This way they get the most amount of value in the least amount of time, and then they can move quickly on with their day.

Know How Long It Takes to Read Your Post

The secret is to know about how long it takes someone to read your post. You will have a range of times because some people will merely scan to get the information they feel is important, some will simply be fast readers, and others will take the time to read every word. Time spent on your blog post is not the best indicator of value—subscribing to your email list is.

You can write brilliantly and your website visitor can spend five minutes reading every word, but if they don't subscribe to your email list, it was all for naught.

Current Subscribers Can Be Filtered From Analytics

Keep in mind that website visitors who are already subscribed to your list will of course not subscribe again. Even if your email subscribers receive your blog post in their inbox, a certain number of them will end up on your site to read your post. More advanced marketing software, such as HubSpot, can help you filter those visitors from your results. Adjust your analytics software so your bounce rate only includes people who leave within five to ten seconds.

The Main Reason People Leave Your Site

The main reason people leave your site within seconds is because they are not finding what they want. If they land on a specific blog post and leave right away, it's because they feel that it won't solve their problem. People can form this opinion within seconds, often because of a poor headline.

Write a Useful Headline with Keywords

Don't try to make your headline cute or witty, instead make it useful and make sure it contains your main keyword. Your keyword should help people find your blog post on Google, and your headline should convince them that your post will solve their problem. Solve their problem, and they'll be much more likely to subscribe to your email list.