I would find a way to use it as a doorway to other content. Strategically placing a few highly relevant links to other articles on your site might just be the ticket to reduce the bounce.

If nothing more, I would analyze the crap out of the search terms bringing people to the site and exploit those topics to no end, with related content. THEN I would link to them from within the main article.

If all else fails... instead of looking at what YOU should do, have a look at other SERPS for the same visitors, and see what THEY are doing with those visitors.

MH

Thank you, MH. those are all good ideas.

Anybody else?

I agree with mhansen, even putting a trio of your best products, pictures and a title, around half length of the article and maybe at the bottom too. It's sad that you have to worry about your best page hurting you but when you are in the dark you wonder and try many things.

Be sure to check for any inbound links to that page before doing away with it.

But I'm with the others, find a way to use it as a doorway/intro page.

I revisit and optimize my busiest pages every month. Sometimes, spending more time on an existing page, than I do on new content.

I keep a log of the exact changes I make each month, to see which worked, and which didn't. (Every page and/or change also has a goal, ie: click, subscribe, buy, etc)

Personally, I would question whether that was my "best" page.

If I sell a widget, and I also have a page on my site about the care and feeding/maintenance of that widget, and all my traffic comes in to read about the maintenance but doesn't buy... then even if it gets the most traffic, it's probably not my best page, because it's not getting traffic targeted to the goal of my site. Actually, it's probably only attracting people who have already bought the widget, either from me or from my competitor.

So you might want to do some thinking about whether that page is really doing you any good on that site. Absolutely try the suggestions above. Take a good look at your analytics, see if the the traffic coming in on the same keywords and from the same referrers and the same locations. If you can't convert that traffic to actually buy your products, can you do anything else with them? Start an email mailing list - "If you're interested in this, sign up now for more information..." A list of your own can be a wonderful thing, specially since it's entirely Google-free. Maybe move the content to a facebook fan page for your business? Or you could even think about adding something to your product line that might appeal to these people.

Lots of things you could try, and if the page isn't converting anyway, you're not risking much.

If they didn't have that page to go to, would they go to some other page on your site and spend money, or would they go to Other Guy's Site instead?

Just a thought: what about adding a simple mailing list option for readers to get notified of related future topics?

@ netmeg

Thanks for the good suggestions.

The topic is sort of a "mental concept" as opposed to a tangible object. So basically, I would have to somehow tie in products that would help someone "cultivate" that mental concept. By mental concept, I sort of mean something along the lines of "positive self image" but only this is more abstract and more niche oriented.

Currently I don't have any products that tie in, and I think people would be more interested in seminars or books / DVDs related to it, which I don't carry (and which wouldn't fit in with the rest of the site, anyway).

@ lucy24

If they didn't have that page to go to, would they go to some other page on your site and spend money, or would they go to Other Guy's Site instead?

More than likely, I think that they would go to the original author's site, or to some other site that he has let publish the article, too.

there isn't really a product I have that ties in with it.

It sounds like people are actually reading the article. Which means that the user experience is good. The bounce rate may be high, but the metrics that google probably care about are low: folks probably don't return to the SERPs and click on something else, nor do they need to refine their search. I don't believe that Google penalizes for single page sessions, but rather for bad user experience that causes a user to back out and do something else on Google.

I've also found that many articles on my site are not great drivers of direct revenue, but they are good link bait. If that page is generating inbound links to your site, it is likely well worth keeping even without direct revenue.

I've also found that many articles on my site are not great drivers of direct revenue, but they are good link bait. If that page is generating inbound links to your site, it is likely well worth keeping even without direct revenue.

yeah, it is not GREAT link bait, but it is probably ok if I were to proactively use it for getting links. My only concern is that probably the keywords that people will use in the anchor text won't be found anywhere else on the site. So even as link bait, I am not 100% sure it is terrific...

I guess I am just concerned the high bounce rate would be viewed as a negative despite the long time on page.

I wouldn't worry about that; the bounce rate by itself probably isn't that big a deal - it's probably more a problem if you think the users aren't likely finding what they want and clicking back to keep searching in Google. From the time-on-page it sounds like they aren't, but looking at the keywords that are bringing traffic might give you some insight on that as well.

...but looking at the keywords that are bringing traffic might give you some insight on that as well.

Thanks Much! Will Do.