Understanding Your Bounce Rate in the Modern Marketing World

By Larissa Usher

Image adapted from Moyers, n.d.

Bounce rate is defined as  “single-page visits divided by entry pages” (Burnett, 2022, para. 24). A bounce rate measures the number of people that lands on the page and leave before navigating to another page; this is shown as a percentage rate (Kearney, 2021). These users do not perform any action before exiting the page. Some people do not realize there is a difference between bounce and exit rates since the two are similar.  A bounce rate is the number of single-engagement sessions a site has, whereas an exit rate is the departing of a webpage even if the session did not originate from that landing page. According to SEMrush, a high bounce rate means that the visitors' duration was short, whereas a low bounce rate means the visitors spent time on the page and interacted with available content (Lahey, 2020). Within Google Analytics, a website’s bounce rate can be broken down into multiple reports; this can be broken down by individual pages, channel groupings, etc. 

 Having a high bounce rate can mean that users have a poor experience, leading the brand to acknowledge design flaws within its website. However, a high bounce rate does not mean there is always an issue. For example, if the goal was to get users to land on that page and spend the duration of their visit on that page before exiting and the time duration spent on the page is high, then a high bounce rate is okay. For example, blogs usually have single-page sessions and expect a high bounce rate. If the goal is to get users to view more than one page, then a high bounce rate is not acceptable. The optimal bounce rate is 26% to 40%, and the average bounce rate is 41% to 55% (Lahey, 2020). 

High bounce rates can give businesses insight into the users' experience. It also lets marketers know what users engage with the website’s content. Analyzing the bounce rate can help a company identify and diagnose various issues, including:

·      SEO 

·      Site design, usability, and navigation

·      Technical errors (not mobile-friendly, etc.)

·      Content quality

·      Speed issues (page load times)

·      Outdated/unnecessary plug-ins  (Kearney, 2021). 

Improving a website’s bounce rate can improve a business’s conversion rate and organic search ranking (Lahey, 2020).  Bounce rates can lead marketers to determine issues with conversion. Bounce rates lead companies to identify the problems within their site and help focus efforts on fixing the issues within their service to enhance the users’ experience. If an e-commerce retailer’s product page takes a long time to load or their website is not optimized to view on a mobile device, this may cause a high bounce rate among visitors. Fixing technological errors and design flaws within a website will improve users’ experience and cause them to spend more time on the website and more conversions. 

A website’s bounce rate is essential to a website's overall performance. A high bounce rate may not always be an issue, but it can help identify technological, design, and user experience issues within a website when it's unwanted. A website’s bounce rate gives insight into visitors' engagement, which can help marketers identify why users are not engaging, and the necessary steps to enhance their experience on the site. 

References

Burnett. (2022). Week 1 Lesson: Introduction to Web Analytics, Basics of Web Analytics and Tool Introduction and Selection. eCampus. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://ecampus.wvu.edu/ 

Kearney, J. (2021, October 4). High bounce rates? how to avoid & remedy. Agility CMS. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://agilitycms.com/resources/posts/how-to-avoid-remedy-high-bounce-rates 

Lahey, C. (2020, December 15). What is bounce rate and what is a good rate? Semrush Blog. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.semrush.com/blog/bounce-rate/ 

Moyers, S. (n.d.). What is a good bounce rate? how to audit & reduce bounce rate. Los Angeles Web Design Company. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.spinxdigital.com/blog/know-about-bounce-rate/ 


 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 30, 2022 at 9:02 PM

    Hi, Larissa!
    I also selected bounce rate as one of my metrics this week! You did a great job outlining insights that can be drawn from bounce rates. What I liked most about your post is the statement at the end that states how a high bounce rate may not always be an issue but rather help identify errors that can be fixed to improve the functionality of a website. I couldn't agree more with this! A few pro tips to reducing bounce rate according to Willson (2020) are making sure content is accurate, key information is above the fold, the website is loads quickly, content is concise, and help people get to where they want to go faster with easier navigation features. Which of these tips do you believe would be most impactful to implement first?

    References
    Willson, Amelia. (2020, November 14). 13 Reasons Your Website Can Have a High Bounce Rate. Retrieved from: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/website-bounce-rate/332439/#close

    ReplyDelete
  2. Web Analytics With LarissaMay 30, 2022 at 11:42 PM

    Hi Julia,
    Thank you! I was surprised when I learned that a “good bounce rate” and “bad bounce rate” are terms whose definitions can be interchanged due to various reasons, including the intended goal of the page and construction of the page, etc. (Lahey, 2020). I read over the article you shared! I believe that it would be essential to improve all those areas to ensure that users have a positive experience while content is optimized. However, I would focus on the user’s experience first. I believe that you can draw users in with eye-catchy content, but if the website isn’t fast, easy to use, and trustworthy, you’ll have a hard time gaining returning visitors and a high conversion rate. I believe it would be impactful to start with the key information above the fold and make sure the content is accurate. You want to gain the trust of your visitors; your information and content must be correct. Next, I would implement the navigation features to make it easier and improve load times. Lastly, I would make sure the content is concise. The consumer must have a good experience while using the site; even if the content is eye-appealing, users must be able to navigate the site promptly and receive accurate information. In my opinion, enhancing the users' experience is essential and would be the most impactful to implement first.

    Thank you for your response and question!

    Reference:
    Lahey, C. (2020, December 15). What is bounce rate and what is a good rate? Semrush Blog. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.semrush.com/blog/bounce-rate/

    ReplyDelete

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