Approximately 90% of our website traffic, excluding bots (which also make up about 90% of total traffic but are filtered by our Cloudflare CDN before reaching our server), comes from unique visitors. This means roughly 10% of our traffic is from regular visitors, while 90% originates from organic searches or, less commonly, links from other websites. Direct referrals from woodworking forums are rare due to outdated rules prohibiting external links, a relic of when forums viewed such links as competition or unpaid advertising. Today, cross-linking drives the web’s ecosystem, powering visibility for sites like Facebook, X, Reddit, and even search engines like Google, which are fundamentally link aggregators.
Our average visitor stays on the site for about 60 seconds, with 75% bouncing after viewing only the page they landed on. Ideally, this bounce rate should be below 30%. So why aren’t we seeing more new posters? Where are these 90% of unique visitors going? The short answer: they land, view the page, and leave.
This high bounce rate drives most of our site changes. We’re struggling to engage visitors effectively, like leading horses to water but failing to make them drink. Following advice from web design experts, we simplified our homepage to avoid overwhelming users with a complex, “747 cockpit” layout. Visitors want a clean, intuitive funnel that clearly communicates where they are and what’s available with minimal text. For those landing on other pages, consistent top navigation and footers across all pages ensure easy exploration, despite the challenge of unifying various platform styles to maintain a professional, user-friendly look.
Still, we need ideas. As long-time users, what features or content would make it easier for you to find what you already know exists? And in 2025, what do you think new visitors are seeking in the woodworking niche that other sites aren’t delivering?
One idea is a centralized woodworking marketplace or classifieds platform, expanding beyond what Woodfinder offers to include tools, materials, services, and more. Unlike forum-based classifieds, a dedicated, free-to-use platform could attract a global audience and be monetized through premium ads if it gains significant traction. What are your thoughts on this or other ways to engage visitors and reduce bounce rates?
Who is visiting us?
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