Gen Y Miss

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?