How I Reduced My Bounce Rate From 70% to 1.26% Within 4Days

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I am sure that you would like to know how I effectively reduced my bounce rate from 70% to 1.26% within 4 days…

Getting traffic from Google is what many (if not all) bloggers and webmasters are focusing on. Because once you start getting organic traffic, you don’t have to bother much about other means of driving traffic to your blog. And as we know – Google is one of the power houses of web traffic generation :).

bounce-rate

But do you know that once you start getting organic traffic to your blog, your bounce rate will start increasing in a rapid way (except if controlled properly). And when your bounce rate reaches from 70 to 100% you are likely to lose your organic traffic gradually.

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You can stop that from happening and make your blog as healthy as possible by following what I am about to show you.

How I Reduced My Bounce Rate From 70% to 1.26% Within 4Days

I was at Adrienne’s blog sometime back – she shared a link to a post on how we can effectively reduce our bounce rate to its minimal. First I went to the blog, then I did some research myself to know if the code can cause harm to my blog. To my surprise, Google did approve such method of reducing our bounce :). If you still doubting, here is a post from Google analytics

I implemented the code on my blog, and voila! My bounce dropped down from 70% to 1.26% in just some days letter (like a week+ :)) [See Screenshot]

bounce-rate-2

So today, we shall be adding a simple code to our blog to help our blog with our bounce rate issue. Believe me – if you have not implemented it, you should do it now…

The Code:

[code] <script type="text/javascript">

var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-XXXXXXX-1’]);
_gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]);

setTimeout(function() {
window.onscroll = function() {
window.onscroll = null; // Only track the event once
_gaq.push([‘_trackEvent’, ‘scroll’, ‘read’]);
}
}, 5000);

(function() {
var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true;
ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();

</script> [/code]

What’s the code for?

Well I don’t want to bore you with how and how it works, so I’ll just give it to you straight… The basic idea of the code is that you manually trigger a tracking event after a period of time. Simple, right?

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How To Implement it:

If you are not the techie kind and wondering how to implement the code, just follow these simple steps…

Go to your WordPress dashboard and click appearance >>> Click Editor >>> and go to your Header.php

Copy the above code and paste it right above </head>

If you can’t locate the </head> tag, simply press the CTRL + F keys simultaneously and search for the tag

Warning:

Please before playing with any code at all – make sure you do a proper backup so you can always revert back when you make a mistake.

Let’s talk

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It looks like I have said so much about so much on how we can effectively reduce our bounce rate, right? Now it’s time to pass the keyboard to you guys…

What do you think about the post? Was it helpful? Have you implemented it yet? Do drop your comment using the comment box below…

Do you still have problem implementing the code? Then do let me know by using the comment box below.

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Do you have comments, questions and thoughts you’d love to share with us? Then do use the comment box below. Remember that your comments, questions and thoughts are highly welcomed and much appreciated :).

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Update:

In the third line where there is “UA-XXXXXXX-1” replace it with your analytic id…

90 thoughts on “How I Reduced My Bounce Rate From 70% to 1.26% Within 4Days”

  2. Your post is so revealing bro, who wouldn’t want his website bounces reduced?

    I’m in already, let me finish my blog redesign and see how well I can implement your code.

    Do have a great weekend bro

    Reply

  4. Hello babanature,

    That’s really an amazing figure for bounce rate you have for your blog. The tutorial is really unique. I’m gonna use it for my blog.

    Thanks

    Reply

    • Hello Sohail,
      Yeah when i first saw it, i was also surprise but the code is 100% safe and was given out by Google him self 🙂
      Thanks for the comment and do have a wonderful weekend start…

      Reply

  5. Babanature, I really like this, thanks for sharing with us on the bounce rate. I also like the one on the missing photos from Android phones. A post I must save.

    Reply

    • Hello Lisa,
      Glad you liked the post. I know they are useful as well that’s why i published it.
      Thanks for stopping by and dropping your comment.
      Do have a brilliant weekend start…

      Reply

  6. Hi Babanature,

    This is awesome indeed 🙂

    Yes, most bloggers generally have a bounce rate of 70 or so, and I also have that, though it keeps fluctuating and becomes lower too. But this low is certainly wonderful. I guess I should try it out, though is it right to have this low a bounce rate, knowing it’s not normal 🙂

    Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂

    Reply

    • Hello Harleena,
      Yes, the normal code was not giving accurate bounce stat. But this code can adjust the way the previous works.
      I am not the owner of the code. The code is from Google analytic itself. I dropped a link to the post on Google analytic, you can check it out above. So if Google would talk and advice us to use it, then it is 100% safe, right?
      Thanks for dropping your valuable comment dear friend. Have a blessed weekend

      Reply

  11. Nice tutorial bro, i have already implemented this before on my health blog, my bounce rate is reducing in time. i think your code is bro because i have seen it before so i had to view your source code to get it again please fix this from the code  

    Reply

    • Hello Kingsley,
      The code is not broken. I have checked it again… but it’s good to know that you have implemented it through my source code.
      Thanks for the comment and do have a wonderful weekend

      Reply

      • Yeah but i think there is problem with my Code, something is formating it as when i view my source code this part is missing

        setTimeout(function() {
        8 window.onscroll = function() {
        9 window.onscroll = null; // Only track the event once
        10 _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'scroll', 'read']);
        11 }
        12 }, 5000);

        Reply

        • Hello once again Kingsley,
          Copy the above code to a notepad before adding it to your header and see if that part of the code will be removed again…
          I did not place the above code in any format so i am sure that it will work for you as well. so try it again 🙂

          Reply

          • What i can say is, there is a code in your header that is preventing those particular lines. It is good to run a code analysis on your blog to trace the main problem. or just make Google your best friend…

  14. I always panic when I see codes but I know I can do this easily.

    This is straightforward tutorial and very easy to follow. I am going to implement it on my blog as well.
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hello Emmanuel,
      Yes, this is super easy to implement and i sure it won’t be a sweat to you :). But if you ever need any assist, i’m always here 😉
      Thanks for the comment and do have a wonderful weekend ahead…

      Reply

  15. Nice share brother !
    I’ll be implementing this code on my blog and will check after a week whether this code helps in reducing my blogs bounce rate as well.Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  16. Hey Babanature,

    Yay, glad you gave that one a shot and see what I mean! Oh yeah, Google does approve of that and I really think they should rework that coding as well. I mean you know my main issue with the way they rate it now is I have a lot of returning visitors that have read my other posts so they’re not jumping all over the place.

    Glad this worked out well for you and congratulations… I appreciate you mentioning me here. 🙂

    Enjoy your week.

    ~Adrienne

    Reply

    • Hello Adrienne,
      Indeed, if i hadn’t read that post i wouldn’t have a joyful bounce rate by now. so for that, thank you so very much :).

      You truly deserve the mention. Thank you for stopping by and dropping your wonderful comment. Do have a pleasant weekend 🙂

      Reply

  17. Hi babanature,

    I am not techie at all when it comes to coding, so I will just grape the code and follow your steps. Thank you so much for sharing the code with us.

    Reply

  19. wow, this something new i found in this post about reducing Bounce Rate using code.i am going to use above mentioned code on my blog and hope for the best. thanks babanature for this helpful and unique post.

    Amit Kumar

    Reply

  20. Babanature, thanks for this revealing post. i saw one on google analytics too, then i wanted to know if it works for bloggers blog too? and also is the exact code you have on the post we will put at the tag?

    Reply

  21. Hey Babanature,

    This certainly sounds interesting. I did check the post, and it said applying this method increases the volume of hits our site sends to GA (apparently, there is a limit for that – currently set at 10 mln hits per month).

    I suppose it wouldn’t be much of a problem for us 😀 Blogging niche is relatively small, so it is hard to get that many hits per month.

    Anyways, thank you for sharing the tip 🙂 Appreciate it!

    Reply

  22. Hey Babnature,

    I have implemented the same code and my bounce rate went from 66% to 30% within 3 weeks. This is great. Now the problem I’m facing now are my visitors. Since the bounce rate went down, my visitors went down as well by a lot. So I definitely need to research this!

    Reply

    • Hello Sherman,
      By implementing the code doesn’t mean you will remove the previews(default) analytic code. Maybe that’s why your traffic stat went down as well…
      If you’re using any seo plugin still add your analytic id in it and as well as the above code. That will work normally…

      Reply

  23. Hello Babanature,

    Any tip on being a better blogger or building better blogs is always appreciated.

    Currently, I’ve got a bounce rate of 78%. I don’t believe it should be so. I’ll implement the code you’ve provided and get back here with the outcome in about a week.

    Do have a great day!

    – Terungwa

    Reply

  25. First let me say I am not complaining about this so please don’t take it that way. One of things about code like this that I don’t like is it gives a false sense of visitors are sticking around and visiting more pages, which is usually false. Especially when you go from a high percentage down to almost nothing over night or in a short time span.

    Visitors are still bouncing and not sticking around long. The code is just saying don’t count them as a bouncer if they visit a single page for 5 or 10 seconds, or if they scroll the page at all depending on the code used. I think a 5 second timer is kind of short before they are considered a non-bouncer. Same with scrolling. They could just scroll for a second and then leave or hit the back button. I know sometimes I visit a page, and then step away for a few moments. When I come back I close it or leave without visiting another page. My visit should be considered a bounce, but if the site had code like this I wouldn’t be counted as a bouncer.

    It seems like a personal preference to me about how you want to be counting bounced visits. So far I have elected not to do this. Like I said I am not complaining I just prefer the traditional route so I can see if my bounce rate is naturally getting better, worse, or staying about the same. I am a little old school though.

    Reply

    • Hello Ray,
      Top bloggers that i know about do use the same code to combat their bounce rate.
      The main thing here is, Google does not penalize people who who uses such because they are the ones who provided us with the code :)…

      Thanks for stopping by and dropping your views on this, It was sure appreciated. Do have a peaceful weekend over there.

      Reply

  27. Hello Baba,
    Thanks a lot for providing me the info and the code. I implemented this code just now in my site. Hope to get good results soon. And does it reduce my bounce rate percentage also in Alexa? (I know the data given there is not accurate, but just asking)

    BTW, there’s some problem with your commentluv plugin.

    Reply

    • Hello Sriram,
      Your alexa and Google analytic are showing totally different score. In essence, the code is only for analytic :).

      I can see that the commentluv is working here but i have checked on it, so it should be fine at your end now.
      Thanks for the comment and have a wonderful week ahead…

      Reply

  29. Very strange! Never heard of this thing, not even imagined that it can be done. I can fully appreciate the post if I get answers of these 2 questions.
    How its possible to decrease bounce rate using a code? Bounce rates are user/visitor behaviour. How can some code change user behaviour?
    Does this code really reduces the rate or just changes the figures of google analytics?
    Please clear this to me… 🙂

    Reply

    • Hello Vinay,
      Good to know that you learn about it here :).
      The way bounce work is; the time a visitor spent on your blog before leaving. If a visitor visits a blog post and exit the same way they came, it is called bounce. With the above code, any visitor that stays and read your blog post for more than 15 seconds before exiting will not be considered as bounce. You can read Google analytic blog for more info about how the code works…

      The code reduces your bounce rate. it is not illegal or constructed by a random blogger. the code is from Google itself…

      Hope i have clear the air for you? Do have a nice weekend

      Reply

  30. I am not sure whether this is correct remedy for bounce or not but let me try this out.

    My question is if the bounce rate is high due to not so good content or irrelevant traffic ( for ex education based website getting traffic of music lovers , so bounce rate will be high ) then in such case how should we find out the correct bounce rate ?

    Reply

    • Hello Tejash,
      If you can hold your readers for more than 15 seconds, then that reader won’t be considered as bounce. So aside the above code, you will still add related post plugin on your blog.

      Reply

  34. Hi,
    I read that same post on Adrienne’s blog, as well.
    Now, I’m going to implement it.
    Thanks for the case study and the info.

    Geri

    Reply

    • Hello Geri,
      Glad you liked the post and you’ll be implementing it on your blog. But incase you’d like to study about the post more, you can read it on Google plus by the link given above 🙂

      Thanks for the comment and do have a brilliant week ahead…

      Reply

  35. Hi Babanature,

    Hey that’s pretty awesome that you were able to get your bounce rate so low just by adding that snippet of code.

    I will be adding the code to my blog this week and hopefully in a week I will get a lower bounce rate. Mine’s pretty high right now, I think it’s like 55% I’ll let you know how it goes.

    Thanks for sharing and have a great day.

    Reply

  36. Hello Babanature,

    I trust you my friend because if you are Adrienne’s friend it is all OK . I have put it in and time will tell.

    Great post keep this up and you will be a super hero!

    Lance

    Reply

    • Hello Reginald,
      You know, if Google analytic hadn’t approve such post, i would have never implemented it on my blog. But thank God it was from Google analytic :).

      Do try it out and see how it goes…
      Thanks for stopping by and do have a wonderful week ahead…

      Reply

  38. Nice one! This post of yours is very informative and unique. 70% down to 1.26% with in 4 days is really amazing! Thanks for sharing this with us! This is a must share post since many wanted to reduce their bounce rate too. Thanks for the step by step guide!

    I found this post shared on Kingged.com, the Internet marketing social bookmarking and networking site, and I “kingged” it and left this comment.

    Reply

  39. Hi Baba,

    I saw this topic second. I still do not understand what’s the benefit of reducing bounce rate this way. Does it improve your search visibility, ranking and overall organic traffic? Will it stop you from ranking low? Does Google ranks looking on that number recorded as bounce rate?

    If not, what’s the use of lowering that number by counting different thing that Google code really counts?

    Reply

    • Hello Suresh,
      We all know how bounce works right? The work of this code is to record people that stays on your blog for more than 15 sec as not bounce. The code is from Google analytic and it is 100% safe… Yes, it increases your search visibility and other benefit a bounce free blog is having…
      You don’t need to doubt but in case you want to know more about the code, I dropped a link to Google analytic where they discuss about the code.

      Thanks for your comment and do have a lovely week ahead

      Reply

      • Thank you Baba for the reassurance!

        Probably we are less expected to click on the links in the post unless they are really highlighted. I just skipped that link.

        It appears Google offers this tweak so that you can better understand your traffic and build strategies accordingly. I still doubt if there are different set of benefit packets for low bounce websites and higher bounce websites (unless the site is categorized as spamming).

        At the same time we should not forget the warning tagged there :

        ” …the function may slow down the users’ experience, even insignificantly, but will also increase the volume of hits your site sends to Google Analytics, which might bring your usage over the limit (currently set at 10 mln hits per month).”

        Now, have we analyzed how many hits in average our sites sends to Analytics and can we afford the tweak when the blog is really popular. Moreover, how large is this 10 mln hits?

        Google suggests “… this fix should only be applied when necessary and justified by the concept of the website and the landing pages.”

        Thank you for bringing in interesting topic.

        Reply

  40. My bounce rate is really high and I need to get it to a more lower and comfortable value. I’m going to try out this code and hopefully, it should work. Thanks anyway for sharing.

    Reply

  42. Hello Babanature,
    Thanks for sharing such wonderful and informative post. I just happen to stumble upon this post and I’m looking forward to implement these codes. This post was awesome !!!!!!!!

    Reply

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