From Wikipedia:

I've been asked this question a lot lately because Google Analytics has been featuring Bounce Rate a little more prominently in their statistics. And naturally the question following is “is mine good or bad?” or “how can I improve it?

This is a difficult question to answer without generalization. My answer is usually roughly between 20 and 30 percent is a good target range. There are many factors to consider, a big one is of course they type of page you're measuring. If you are measuring the Bounce Rate off an entry page, and your rate is 25%, that means 75% of the people who land on it (through ads, SEO or however) are continuing on through your site. If it is a “click here to purchase” page you'll be the luckiest salesperson alive if 75% of the people who read the page continue to a purchase page (not impossible, but very unlikely). So it depends on the type of page. For an entry page, or a content page you should focus on the 20%-30% range for best results. I've seen rates as low as 15%, but they aren't common.

Keep in mind some sites like news sites will naturally have a higher Bounce Rate, because people tend to scan headlines, or read an article, and head off to the next site. A site like this one (JeremyMorgan.com) is more of a niche oriented type of article, and I tend to run in the 30-35% range, which is decent for an article site. How-to sites may also suffer from high Bounce Rates, as people find what they were looking for, and exit to use the information.

One big thing of course is irrelevant content. If your content isn't what the person searching was looking for, they likely won't search your site for it, they simply move on. If you're using deceptive tactics to get search results or clicks, you can expect a higher Bounce Rate. Also as I said earlier, “how to” type sites generally run a little higher, because of the focus of what people are looking for.

Side note: in my experience submitting your sites to social media outlets like Digg, Reddit and Stumbleupon increase your Bounce Rates. Not because they send bad traffic, but because of the nature of the audience. They tend to be more “hit and run” type visitors. They scan your page, and immediately move on to the next link. This is especially true with stumbleupon because their users simply need to hit the stumble button to move on the next site.

In a general sense, you should pay attention to any kind of analytic data you can get to your site. but for most sites you shouldn't invest a large amount of time and money on Bounce Rate until you've locked down bigger issues like conversions or bookmarking rates. In other words, keep it on the list of things to monitor and change, but don't stress yourself out about it unless you find an 80% Bounce Rate somewhere. Once you have increased your conversion ratios, bookmarks, and things like that you can start tuning your Bounce Rate. If you run an e commerce site you should pay attention more closely than you would a news site.

The best way to lower your Bounce Rate is to make your content good, and relevant. Write good headlines, and provide people the content they were searching for. Don't try to gather extra clicks or search results with irrelevant terms. There are a lot of articles you can find on the internet about improving your bounce rate. Good luck!

Jeremy Morgan is a Portland Web Design Expert and runs a SEO blog in his spare time.

Jeremy Morgan is a Portland Web Design Expert and runs a SEO blog in his spare time.

The recent Google shakeup is all about paid links. Stop paying for links now! Google is now "punishing" websites for having paid links, because they feel it's cheating the algorithm. You might be upset by this, but they are doing it to improve the quality of their results. Here is how you can take advantage of it.

Google is moving towards algorithms that favor sites that are "naturally" linked to. What is "natural" linking? These are links that a webmaster put up because he or she wanted to, not because they were paid to. They saw something they liked, and put a link to it. This means all those shady SEOs who were buying links up by the hundreds can't cheat good sites out of the rankings anymore. So how you do get natural links?

Focus on your subject.

There is a saying in marketing, if you market to everyone, you are marketing to no one. Maintain your focus, and keep your content within your niche. Don't try to spread yourself too thin.

I personally have been guilty of this sin in the past. At one time JeremyMorgan.com had SEO articles, PHP scripts, Ford Mustang News and photoshop tutorials, and pictures of my family and locations back home. Needless to say I didn't really dominate any of those niches. Focus your efforts, and try to stay on topic.

Give them something to link to.

Once you find your focus, provide content that others in your niche want to link to. It's really that simple. Think to yourself, "are people going to want to link to this?". As much as I think my speculations and opinions on industry trends are great, the reality is most people link to articles I write that actually tell you how to do something. If you really want to build links, give them something helpful or really interesting to link to.

Even pages that you cannot easily monetize. The more links you get, the better.

Join the community.

In 2008, they have a community for almost anything. Get involved in those communities, sign up for forums and comment on posts. Become an authority. Just by being helpful to others and bringing information to a community, people will link to your site out of respect, knowing that their audience will appreciate the link. Be honest, helpful, and maintain your integrity on the boards. Instead of making fun of that newbie, help them out.

Look for places with high quality links.

Don't be afraid to ask to exchange links with others who might benefite from your service. Links from sites like your local library or community-centric pages go a long ways. Even your employer may put up a link (be careful not to mess that one up!).

Get Deep Links

Deep links are very important. Try to get links pointing towards inner pages of your site rather than the front page. With enough of these types of links, you can dominate some of the serps related to that topic, as well as build your overall quality.

Write Articles.

Chances are, you're reading this article on somewhere other than JeremyMorgan.com or Webfoot Central. That's because I submit articles all over the internet. Not only do you help build backlinks, but you contribute to your community, and make a name for yourself. Don't write spammy articles, or try to advertise too hard. Make something useful that others will want as content on their own site.

Issue Press Releases.

I can't really comment on this one too much, because I've never done it, but for some sites it's a very useful tool for getting inbound links, and good publicity. Make sure you have something going on that's worth talking about!

Blog, Blog, Blog

Every site needs a blog. Even if your site is primarily about selling widgets, have a widget news related blog. Individual articles will get people linking to them, and will keep your site fresh and add content, which google and other search engines love.

If you must, sponsor some links.

There are a few sponsored links worth getting. Yahoo Search Inclusion is one example. If you are in a highly competitive industry, such as adult, SEO, mortgage, finance, or gambling you will need to purchase links to get an edge. There are a lot of people competing for your terms.

Conclusion

Use common sense. The best way to get ahead is by being honest, and providing a decent service. Stop trying gimmicks or tricks to cheat your way into good rankings. The best long term SEO plan involves taking the high road and doing things honestly. Check out the SEO book to see what I learned about ethical SEO. Now I don't have any problems getting people to my website. You can too, all it takes is a little effort!

Jeremy Morgan is a Portland SEO who frequently blogs about SEO and how to make money online.

Do you know one of those people who "just has it"? You know the type, they can be a guy or a girl who is very average looking, not rich or famous, yet always seems to have the attention of the opposite sex. Do you know what they have that others don't? Confidence. As we all know, confidence is the

ultimate aphrodisiac.

So how do you increase your own confidence? It's very simple actually. First off, you need to love yourself. If you don't love yourself, how do you expect others to love you? Change your attitude today, as in right now. Instead of bombarding your head with negative thoughts, start thinking positively. Every time a negative thought pops in your head, banish it immediately. Start thinking about all the positive qualities you have.

A fast way to improve confidence.

As an excersize, take a pen and paper and write down all the positive things about yourself. Come up with as much as you can. Are you nice? Are you attractive, smart, or funny? Anything you can think of that anyone has ever complimented you on, write it down. Even if you don't agree with them. Come up with list of great things, and keep it in your purse, or on the nightstand. Add to it whenever something comes to mind. Every day, read it to yourself at least once. Read this list until you are absolutely sick of reading it.

Soon, you'll have that list memorized, and you won't even need to look at it to know what it says. And you know what else? Your subconcious will have it memorized as well. Studies have proven the power of the subconcious mind, and it's vast potential for self improvement. By telling yourself these positive things every day, you'll notice a difference rather quick.

Be proud of yourself.

The next step is giving yourself something to be proud of. What are you good at? What do you like to do? No matter what it is, anything from snowboarding to knitting, think about ways you can make yourself better at it. Set goals, preferably small goals, and focus on achieving them. If you play the guitar, set out to learn a song and learn it. Improve upon these skills constantly until you've mastered it.

You might be asking, what in the heck does this have to do with dating? It's completely relevant. When you are good at something, anything, you become more confident. When you improve yourself, and you are good at something, you carry that with you throughout the day. You begin to slowly love yourself more, and become more confident, and it shows. Not to mention it's a good conversation starter. Which brings me to the next step, conversation!

Conversation Fuel.

In order to have conversations with others, you have to have something to talk about. Take some time to think about something you're really interested, and learn something about it. Go down to the library or hit the internet and pick up a few things about it when you're bored. Become an "expert" on something and talk about it. Everyone is impressed by knowledge. You don't have to be an acedemic to be able to hold a conversation about a subject.

Also, subscribe to the newspaper,and read about current events. Newspapers are varied enough that there has to be something of interest in there for you. This gives you something to talk about at parties and social events. Again it doesn't take much to hold a conversation.

When engaged in conversation, become interested in the other person. Really listen to what they have to say. Everyone loves talking about themselves. Use their name frequently also, nothing sounds sweeter to someone than their own name. Becoming a better conversationalist will build your confidence.

Appearance.

Ok, you knew this one was coming. Looks aren't everything, but they're a great asset to have. We can't all be movie star hot, but there are things anyone can do to make themselves hotter. The first thing:

Smile. You never can smile too much. Smiling is contagious, and if you're always smiling, and the other person is smiling, it creates an instant bond, and a clear indicator that the date is going well. Smiling tends to affect your mood also, so smiling more just might make you happier.

Take care of yourself. This one is very important. Make sure your clothes are clean, you are showered and shaved, with brushed hair and teeth at all times. Sure, you might feel lazy in the morning and skip the shower, then run to the store really quick. But while you're out you will feel like everyone knows you didn't take a shower, and everyone knows you stink. You wouldn't go out on a date this way right?

Anytime you are showered, clean with brushed teeth and good breath your confidence is higher. And thats what we're shooting for.

Excersize. Did you know that just by simply taking a walk every day, you can lose as much weight as someone who runs a few times a week? It's true, by elevating your heart rate and working your muscles you are burning calories. And doing it every day improves your metabolism. Losing a few pounds always adds to your confidence level.

Try new styles. Try doing your hair different, or dressing a little different, and see the response. A new look is a great way to build up your confidence, especially if it really works for you. Don't be afraid to try new things.

Conclusion

In the end, what really matters overall is what you think of yourself. Learn to love yourself. This doesn't mean you should turn into an egomaniac, it just means you like who you are, and are ok with yourself. This goes a very long way towards building your own confidence. And when you're confident, you're sexy. This will help you attract more people than you ever imagined.

Jeremy Morgan is a an author who writes articles about dating, and runs a

free online dating site for fun.