What is bounce rate?

If you are looking at your Google Analytics (and if you are not that is another blog of why you should be) you will see in your Audience Overview a figure a percentage identified as "Bounce Rate".

The definition is "the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page"

Basically a user comes to your website, lands on a page and then leaves your website from that same page without clicking on anything else.

Your bounce rate shows you the percentage of your visitors who "bounce" off your site.

Bounce rate (%) = Visits that access only a single page (#) ÷ Total visits (#) to the website

Why is bounce rate important?

Traditionally it has been known as an indication of whether your website is delivering the information that the user was looking for or if you have a high bounce rate you may not be encouraging visitors to continue with their visit and engaging them to delve deeper into your website.

Within Google Analytics you can look at your overall bounce rate in the Audience Overview. You can also look at your bounce rate by page, channels and you can go even further and look it for mobile versus desktop.

What is a good bounce rate?

It is suggested as a rule of thumb that;

26%-40% is excellent
41%-55% is roughly average
56%-70% is higher than average but may not be cause for alarm depending on website
70% + - disappointing and worth looking into

Source:Rocketful

What are some of the reasons that your bounce rate may be high ?

• Page speed - slow to load
• Low quality content
• Misleading Title Tag and or Meta Description
• Technical Error - e.g.  Page not found
• Pop Ups
• No CTA (Call to action)
• External Links Open in Same Tab
• Referral Spam

What to do about your bounce rate?

First step is to be looking at your Google Analytics so you know what your bounce rate is.

Then depending where it falls in the guidelines, and/or if you wish to improve, drill down further and investigate if it is particular pages, channels, devices etc.

Here are some suggestions of what to look at;

• Improve Your Content's Readability
• Avoid Pop ups Don't Disrupt the UX (User Experience)
• Create a Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA)
• Improve Your Brand Storytelling
• Keep Your Blog Fresh With the Right Content
• Write Attractive Meta Descriptions for Search Users
• Set External Links to Open in New Windows
• Make sure Your Site is Responsive

If you would like help with identifying your bounce rate for your website and coming up with a plan of how to improve it contact me at Savvy Sites - Website and Online Marketing Consultant - Central Coast