70% Bounce Rate for a PC Gadget/Hardware Site

[irock]

I gave a good look at Google Analytics today, and discovered I have bounce rate of 70% (some pages are even higher) across my PC hardware review site. I understand this means 70 out of 100 who entered my site left within 10s. I was wondering if you guys what you usually do to fix this.

I also found out that dial-up, T1, T3, ISDN, Cable, DSL all have the same bounce rate. So I suppose my site is either just slow regardless of internet connection or the site is fast enough, but just not enough to keep most of them to stay.

Any pointers?

Thanks.

[J_RaD]

where are your users coming from?

sounds like when they get to your page, they realize that isn't what they were looking for *click*

[pageoneresults]

I gave a good look at Google Analytics today, and discovered I have bounce rate of 70% (some pages are even higher) across my PC hardware review site.

That's the first clue. ;)

I understand this means 70 out of 100 who entered my site left within 10s.

No, what that means is that 70% of visitors to that page went no further than that page. It has nothing to do with the amount of time they spent on the page. Think of it as a "Single Entrance/Exit visit.

Bounce rates are influenced greatly by the page the visitor is landing on. In your case, you have a review site. I would imagine most visitors are coming in on the long tail and hitting specific review pages which is probably what they were looking for.

The above is just one scenario. How long are the visitors staying on the page? Long enough to read the review and be on their merry way? If that is the case, then 7 out of 10 of your visitors were there just for the review (if they are spending time on the page). If they are not spending time on the page, then you have some issues to address.

P.S. If there is one question that is frequently asked by clients, it is "What does the Bounce Rate mean?"

[jayhands]

What may be a good idea is to design a compelling 'call to action' somewhere on the page to direct them to more reviews (if they are coming in on deep pages from a long tail query).

That said, also ensure that your navigation is prominent and compelling.

[onlineleben]

Maybe adding a quick rating/survey like "Was this review helpful for you?" would help in identifying
a) if people have read to the end of the review
b) were really interested/targeted
and then can be led to more similar content.

[irock]

I dug deeper into Google Analytics, and found out 70% of my visitors actually left the site within 10s. That's from a bar graph that is accessible to other sites also running GA.

Also, i agree that i should direct these people to my other reviews as well.

[jbinbpt]

It may be just the type of visitor you are attracting. That bounce rate may be typical of this demographic.

[dcheney]

70% leaving within 10s is scary stat. It suggests that 70% of visitors realize they won't find whatever they are looking for on your site almost the instant it loads. You might take a look at terms folks are using to find your site. Perhaps you can tailor your content more to what they are seeking.