Mike,
Quick figures...
Site A ... 1 page "salesletter" type 80.60% (hardly surprising)
Site B... 5 Page "brochure" site 67.24%
Site C... 7 Page "brochure" site 66.53%
Site D.. 328 Page integrated shopping cart (e commerce) 43.07%
I'm working on the Adwords definition (I don't understand Jim's way of calculating it).
Here's the rub. Site D is the worst ranked and worst performing (I've only been working on this nightmare for three weeks)
A & B are on page 1 but not seeing much traffic (actual searches sre right down).
C is getting lots of traffic and most importantly, doing good business.
Looking at the phrases that people entered the sites (especially the high ranked ones), it would appear that a lot of the "bouncers" were "curiousity clickers.
If these were Adwords stats I would be worried but they are not.
Rabby is spot on.
It's not a good idea to look at stuff in isolation. It's a bit like the fixation on this thread about keywords in URLs. From a ranking point of view they have very little effect in the overall picture.
G
Garry,
You seem to have this thing about mis-quoting what people have said.
Take bounce rate: You said--"I'm working on the Adwords definition (I don't understand Jim's way of calculating it)"
I said: - "Bounce rate !! Another goody. I think you can describe bounce rate as people who hit your site by accident, realise this and get straight out. Website counters will not tell you this. The Adwords program deals with this very well, but I am not aware of any other ways to detect bounce rate".
Where are the calculations you are refering to? What I did say, was "I think you can describe bounce rate as people who hit your site by accident. Which is remarkably similar to your statement: "it would appear that a lot of the "bouncers" were "curiousity clickers". - Yes, people who had no intention of really being there.
I don't know what you are trying to prove from your figures, because they are only of relevance to each particular site they refer to. It can depend on any number of conditions: The market they are in, The competion in that market, the efficiency of the Keywords & Meta Tags, site design, site features etc. All it tells you is that bounce rates are high. I'll bet 90% of sites on the web have high bounce rates unless they are attracting targeted traffic.
Your other statement: "It's a bit like the fixation on this thread about keywords in URLs. From a ranking point of view they have very little effect in the overall picture.
I presume you are refering to me as the fixationist . I have offered an honest opinion on the relationship between keywords and URL's ( Unique Resource Locators - official description ) and it's effect on page ranking. If you do not believe it works, fine, that's your opinion. But if you are having a "pop" at someone, have the decency to name them.
Your other point: " From a ranking point of view they have very little effect in the overall picture". Tell that to the internet marketers of this world using those techniques to make Millions per year using the tehnique" . You surely don't think that I thought it up did you?
So, please get your facts right before you post. This is the second time you have misquoted me on this thread.
Jim G