Bounce Rate – Short Conceptual Explanation

The bounce rate is a metric to calculate how many people visit a website and then exit the site rather than viewing other pages before leaving. A high rate can be an indication that the page is not effectively engaging visitors. If more engagement is desired, things can be done to motivate visitors to interact with the site.

Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate

Problems with a high bounce rate

A high rate indicates visitors are not engaging with the page. They are not clicking on blog articles, signing up for email newsletters, or checking out other service pages. It can demonstrate that visitors have not found what they were looking for by visiting the site therefore left the site and went to another one instead. Fortunately, it is unlikely to be a ranking factor for SEO as it is something that can easily be manipulated. However, a high rate is bad if the goal of the page is to get visitors to take action, like sign up for an email newsletter.

Why a high bounce rate is not necessarily a bad thing

A high bounce rate is not always a bad thing. It all depends on the purpose of the page. If a page is created to provide information, visitors are more likely to leave once they have found the information they were looking for. This is often the case with blog pages, contact pages, and service pages.

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Creating segments in Google Analytics that measures different types of visitors can be helpful. For example, a new visitor segment could determine how many new visitors bounce from the site, which can then provide future content creation with information to encourage them to stay.

Bounce Rate

Ways to decrease the bounce rate

The best way to decrease the bounce rate on a page is to make it more engaging. That might mean doing something as simple as redesigning the website or creating new content. Consider the expectations of the visitors to the page and accommodate their needs by including a call-to-action, interior links, or rethink ads to bring more relevant users to the site.