What is a bounce rate?
First, what exactly is a bounce rate, how do I find it, and what does it tell me?
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that visit your site and leave without exploring further. It is a measurement of engagement. Like all analytics, the number has to be put into context for a particular site. Some sites are ok with a high bounce rate – the information is small, it is shown in its entirety on the linked page and the user comes, reads, and bounces. That might be your design and that is ok if your goal is to have a user hit some outbound link such as a link to a different site. It is a matter of goals and what you are trying to achieve.
I use the Drudgereport.com site a lot as an example in my posts. This site is just links to other stories so the bounce rate is very, very high. The return rate, though not officially measured, will also be high as viewers leave and come back. This site engages its customer by providing links to stories that are attractive to its readers. It is all about the links here, there is no original content.
Now take a site like ThemeForest.com. This site showcases and sells website themes. In this case, you are looking for a low bounce rate as your goal is to have users browse the site, staying engaged with all the themes and eventually finding something at a price that triggers a sale.
What are some example bounce rates?
So understanding your bounce rate and how it relates to your goal is important. Here are some typical bounce rates supplied by Google Analytics:
- 40-60% Content websites
- 30-50% Lead generation sites
- 70-98% Blogs
- 20-40% Retail sites
- 10-30% Service sites
- 70-90% Landing pages
So what is your bounce rate?
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Don’t forget there are exit rates too! You can read the Google article to learn more about exit rates.
Marlin
CEO – FortunesRocks.me
p.s: Come in to my side door and find out more about my service and do me a favor, hit a 2nd link so my bounce rate looks good!