The Related Stories Game

A few years back on Youtube, there was a challenge that lots of channels were making videos for. It was called “The Wikipedia Challenge”, in which players would try and connect two things together by only clicking hyperlinks. For example, connecting wrestler John Cena to Buddha.

Why would I bring this up? In my opinion, this game relates directly to one of the biggest things that journalists online need to keep an eye on. Bounce rate.

Bounce rate is a simple concept. It measures the percentage of people that complete one action, and then leave the page. In a news context, an example would be logging onto a homepage, reading one story, and leaving. Bounce rate can be tracked on most analytics trackers, such as Google Analytics.

How does this relate to the Wikipedia challenge? If you are a journalist online, you want readers to keep clicking hyperlinks, keep reading stories, and stay on your page. Bounce rate is a great way to keep track of reader interaction, and it’s important that it stays high.

So go ahead journalists, play “The Related Stories Game”. It might not be the new big trend on Youtube, but it’s definitely something that will keep readers entertained, and your bounce rates high.