What Is Bounce Rate, Anyways?

According to Google Analytics, Bounce Rate is the “percentage of single-page sessions” but you can read the full definition here. Basically, if visitors come to your site, view one page and immediately leave, you are going to have a high bounce rate. Bounce Rate can be based off many different things including the number of pages your site has (if there is only one page), site design, usability issues, etc. Or, you may just be really good at providing information the visitor needed.

So is a High Bounce Rate Good or Bad?

According to The Rocket Blog, most websites experience bounce rates between 26% and 70% (26% being the better bounce rate). The Rocket Blog also states that the “rule of thumb” for bounce rates is anything over 90% (or under 20%) should be cause for alarm… unless you are a blog, news site, etc. Why? Well, people who come to blogs and news websites generally have a habit. They come, they read whatever is new, and they leave. So unless you’re a blog, news site, etc. then a high bounce rate is generally not good news for you. Taking a good, hard look at your site design, content, and usability is a good place to start in order to improve your bounce rate.

Why Should I Care about Bounce Rate?

Essentially, a high bounce rate probably means that there is a problem with your site. As indicated before, problems can be easy fixes like site design or usability… but a high bounce rate can also mean that your content just plain stinks. According to Blue Corona, “A high bounce rate can be a sign that your content is not targeted to the visitor’s wants and needs.” If you think the visitors to your site can get needed value out of a single page, then your bounce rate may be high but not a cause for alarm. However, if your site includes dynamic content such as blogs, shops, etc. then having a high bounce rate is the exact opposite of what you want. Think about this: If a friend emailed your site to you (without you having any prior knowledge of the site) would you stick around? Would there be enough content or information you were looking for to satisfy having a high bounce rate? Or should the bounce rate remain low while the duration of the Visits remain high?

You can measure bounce rate from your website’s referrers to figure out where your visitors are coming from and you can even use bounce rate to determine what search words they are using to get there (Source). The most important take away from bounce rate is this: Bounce rate lets you really understand consumer behavior. Which, as Kaushik puts it, is the “most holy of the holy goals in measurement” (Kaushik, 2010, p. 51).

What Now?

Take a look at your bounce rate. How high is it? Now think about the type of content on your site. Is it inviting your target audience to stay a while?

The Importance of Unique Visitors

What is a Unique Visitor, Anyway?

A Unique Visitor is exactly what it sounds like: every time someone visits your website from a different browser, they will appear in your analytics as a Unique Visitor. Analytics are measured during specific reporting periods (typically daily, weekly, and monthly). According to Techopedia, Unique Visitors per month is a popular metric for goal setting, ad pricing, etc. (Source). So essentially, a Unique Visitor is an individual who has visited your site. According to Avinash Kaushik, while the Unique Visitor metric is not always one hundred percent accurate, it is a metric that “continues to be a superior approximation of the number of people visiting your website” (Kaushik, 2010, p. 38).

How are Unique Visitors Determined?

Web analytic tools such as Google Analytics use a process in counting visitors. When a person visits a site for the first time, a unique cookie is attached to their IP address, registering them as a Unique Visitor. The cookie acts as a unique ID and remains attached to that person’s browser even after they leave your site. Anytime they visit in the future, the analytics software will recognize that browser as a returning user. It is important to note, however, that the data from Unique Visitors can be easily muddled. For example, if multiple people visit a site from a public computer, they will all be counted as the same user (unless they’re using a different browser).

Why Should I Care about Unique Visitors?

While the number of Unique Visitors to your site may not always be perfect, there are still plenty of reasons why you should be monitoring the number of unique visitors to visit your website within a given reporting period. For one thing, knowing the number of Unique Visitors to your site gives you an idea of the size of your audience. The importance of this can vary depending on the content of your site. If you are a brand, for example, have a huge number of Unique Visitors may be important to you. For example, according to this statistical report, Amazon had the most popular site of any retailer as of September 2015. The report was based off of the number of Unique Visitors per month. Another importance of measuring Unique Visitors has to do with marketing strategy. If you are monitoring the number of Unique Visitors you get coinciding with marketing you put out on social media, you will have a better idea of whether or not your marketing strategy is paying off. Alison Brehme at Hostway perhaps says it best: “This information is highly useful and can provide a look into seasonal trends that can help you craft messaging and website improvements for your business.”

What Now?

Take time this week to monitor your Unique Visitor activity. Are there more Unique Visitors on certain days? Is the number of Unique Visitors tied directly to whether or not content was posted via social media, a blog, etc.? Keeping an eye on your Unique Visitors can help you get to know what pushes your audience to your site, knowing that information can only help you better your site, no matter what kind of content you are pushing!