What does bounce rate mean?
What does bounce rate mean? A “bounce” occurs when a visitor goes to a website, views only one page and leaves the website without further interaction. The bounce rate, which sets the number of bounces against the total number of sessions, gives insight into how often visitors leave the site after viewing just one page.
There are various reasons why a bounce can occur, ranging from insufficiently relevant content or slow loading times to accidentally clicking on a link. In some situations, such as after reading a full blog post or noting down contact details, a bounce is not a sign of a poor user experience.
Analysing the bounce rate
Google Analytics interprets every bounce as a session of zero seconds, since the system registers no further interactions on the website. A high bounce rate is not always an indication of problems, however. This can depend on the structure of the website itself, such as with websites that consist of a single page. Problems such as errors in redirects or expectations not being met by marketing campaigns can also lead to an increased bounce rate. At the same time, an unusually low bounce rate can point to technical issues, such as incorrect settings in Google Tag Manager or the presence of a cookie banner that requires action from the user.
What is considered an acceptable bounce rate?
For a popular blog, a bounce rate between 70 and 90 per cent can be perfectly normal. This is because visitors arrive via search engines, find what they are looking for and then leave the site. In such cases a high bounce rate is not a problem but actually logical: it shows that visitors quickly find what they need, which points to a clear and informative website.
For a landing page whose purpose is for visitors to click through to a next page, however, a high bounce rate can be cause for concern. If, for example, you have a bounce rate of 90 per cent on a page that is meant to lead visitors further, this doesn’t look favourable. Even then, though, a bounce rate that seems high at first glance is not always a negative signal. If, for example, 10 per cent of visitors do click through, this can still be considered successful, depending on your specific goals and the context of your campaign. Whether a bounce rate is too high therefore really depends on the specific goals and functions of your website or page.
According to Google’s guidelines, the following bounce rates are acceptable for different types of websites:
- Online service websites: 10-30%
- E-commerce sites: 20-40%
- Lead generation websites: 30-50%
- Content websites: 40-60%
- Landing pages: 70-90%
- Blogs: 70-98%
Bounce rate for website optimisation
The bounce rate is an important metric for evaluating the effectiveness of your landing pages and marketing campaigns. By comparing it with average performance, it is possible to gain insight into which pages or campaigns need attention. This makes it possible to refine both existing and future marketing strategies. For more details on how the bounce rate can be improved or for specific help with website optimisation, please get in touch with us. Our experts are ready to help you attract and retain more engaged visitors on your website.