Bouncy castles, bouncy hair and now bouncy websites
In website terms, a bounce occurs when someone bounces away after viewing only a single page of your website.
A web visitor is considered to be a bounce if they:
- Close the browser window or tab
- Click the back button
- Type another URL into the browser
- Click on a link to go to a different website
If a visitor clicks on a link to view another page of your website then they have not bounced.
Bounce rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave without clicking on anything. For bounce rates, the lower the better because a high bounce rate indicates that visitors are not seeing anything they want to click, so they move on.
For example, if your bounce rate is 80% then 80% of people leave your website without clicking to read an additional web page. Alternatively if your bounce rate is 10% you should be proud because only 10% of visitors leave without clicking; 90% visit at least one more page of your website.
How do you find out what your bounce rate is?
Bounce rate is available via Google Analytics on the main dashboard, and can be found in most analytics tools.
What bounce rate is considered OK?
Your bounce rate can vary depending upon how someone found your website, what the purpose of your website is and your industry.
Generally speaking:
- Above 50% you should review your website
- 40-50% is OK
- 30-40% is good
- less than 30% is great.
Blogs tend to have a higher bounce rate as people read what they are looking for then move on.
People who bounce still haven’t found what they’re looking for.
Bounce rate is an important indicator of your website’s ability to engage visitors, and therefore also gives an indication of the quality of your web content.
How can you improve (decrease) your bounce rate?
Google Analytics shows the bounce rate for each page of your website that gets visitors. Review your website and make updates to the pages with the highest bounce rate, particularly those over 50%.
- Review your content. Make it relevant to the terms people are searching for by including keywords in headings, subheadings and body text.
- Add links to other pages of your website throughout your content. Make sure the links and key information is included above the fold (the fold is the imaginary line at the bottom of your monitor, the area above the fold can be seen without having to scroll down)
- Have a clear and obvious call to action. State exactly what you want web visitors to do, for example, read more about xxxx, sign up for e-newsletter or view our range of xxx products
- Use simple language and make it easy to understand what your website is about
- Have prominent navigation with simple labels like “Pricing”, “Products”, “Contact Us”
Need help getting Google Analytics up and running or decreasing your bounce rate? Contact us.
Click Tip Summary
Bounce rate is an important indicator of the quality of your web content. Bounce rate tracks the percentage of people who leave your website without clicking on anything, so the lower the better.
Melinda aka Mel is a Google Partner, Google Ads & Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and co-owner of Click-Winning Content.
Mel provides results-driven services to organisations around the world and is committed to never using an acronym without explaining it first. She also likes greyhounds as pets, grand slam tennis, cracked pepper and Melbourne sunsets.
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