When Search Engine Optimization is the Wrong Thing to Do by Nora McDougall-Collins of the National Network of Forest Practitioners

Search Engine Optimization is probably the wrong thing to do if your statistics show a high number of bounces. A “bounce” happens when visitors go to your website, look at one page and leave.

You will always have some bounces because there will be people looking for something else that happened to land on your site. For example, if I’m looking for a site about Java programming, and I get to a site about Java coffee, I will probably click the Back button – making my visit to the coffee site a bounce. Or, I may be so interested in your coffee, I take a further look and forget all about my programming project.

Here is an example of a site that seems to have great statistics, but really doesn’t. (The NNFP Website HELP Team sees this situation frequently.) Of the 54,219 visitors, 39,000 of them took one look at the site and left. That is actually worse than if they didn’t go to the site at all because it reflects negatively on the whole organization. This is a site that should not try to get more visitors before they fix their site. No, they shouldn’t take it down because that would hurt their potential for the future. Instead they should figure out why people are leaving the site.

Back to the Basic Message of your Site
If your site is receiving a high rate of bounces, you need to go back to the basics. It’s probably because your site isn’t answering the basic question, “Whatcha got?” As a viewer, I go to your site on a hunting trip for something. In the example above, I’m probably looking for help on a programming problem. I’m probably frustrated with something that isn’t working. If I were looking for building materials, I probably want to go into your site, find what I want and get out. If I go to your site, and I don’t immediately find out that you have what I want, I will probably go to another site – and there is plenty of competition to go to.

How do I know that your site has what I want? PHOTOS! People generally just won’t invest a lot of time reading your text unless you give them a reason to take the time to do so. Also, the photos need to clearly explain your product or service. It is easy for people who aren’t familiar with your business or industry to misunderstand an image. For example, I saw a fine hat site that used a crest as their main home page image. When I showed people that image and asked what they thought it represented, they would say that maybe the site was a beer or cigar site. They did not associate it with fine mens’ hats the way the site owners did.

If you have a fine woodworking site, even the quality of the site will add to the perceived quality of your work – or result in bounces if they perceive the site to be amateurish. Be sure your site is “good enough” to represent your product before you invite visitors, or the visitors will bounce.

Members of NNFP have access to a variety of services to help you get the most from your existing web site or to help you develop a site that meets your business or organization's goals. Cost sharing is available on the price of your services. Besides our scheduled times, your group can schedule a private webinar for your members. For more information, contact Nora McDougall-Collins at 740-856-1529 or nora@nnfp.org