What does bounce rate mean?
Simply put, the term bounce rate refers to the percentage of your total website visitors that leave after just viewing a single page. The goal is to keep this as low as possible. Higher numbers mean your website is not just failing to get conversions for you, but also actively driving potential customers away.
If you wish to learn more about this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How low should my bounce rate be?
While there is no fixed number that dictates how low your bounce rate should be, 50% is a good number to shoot for. This means that for every 1,000 people that visit your website, at least 500 of them should visit more than a single page.
This number, however, would change depending on where the majority of your website traffic comes from. If it is from organic search, then 80-90% is still acceptable. After all, people who do online searches are often still canvassing, hopping from one search result to the next, hoping to find the exact content they are looking for.
If most of your traffic comes from things such as email marketing, however, 30-40% is a good window to aim for. Keep in mind that the people on your mailing list have already interacted with your brand and signified their interest to hear more from it.
If you are still getting a high bounce rate despite your traffic consisting mostly of an engaged audience, then there must be some other issue with your website (and/or marketing emails) that you need to address.
Question #2: Does a low bounce rate mean my website is working?
A low bounce rate does not necessarily mean that your website is working, but it is a good indicator that you are on the right track. After all, the only way you will be able to pitch your products and services to your website visitors is by keeping them on your website long enough.
If they leave after only a couple of seconds, then there is just no way you will be able to sell them anything—no matter how well-crafted your sales pitch is and how amazing your website looks.
Of course, this does not apply to single-page websites and landing pages. There are other, more suitable metrics you can use for them, such as:
- Time-on-page
- Engagement (comment, inquiry, use of features)
- Conversion rate
Question #5: Does a high one mean my website is not working?
A high bounce rate does not necessarily mean that your website is not working. As we have seen in the previous section, there are other metrics to take into account.
Even if you have a multi-page website, a high bounce rate may just mean that your visitors typically find what they need on your website without having to jump from one page to the next, which is amazing in terms of UI/UX (user interface/user experience) design.
Question #3: Does a low bounce rate mean a higher conversion rate?
A low bounce rate does not necessarily mean a higher conversion rate. It just means a lot of your visitors visit at least two pages on your website per visit. Whether or not they click on your calls to action (CTAs) is a completely different story.
Question #4: How can I improve it?
To improve it, you need to first figure out why it is high in the first place. Below are the five most common issues that lead to poor bounce rates:
- Terrible page load times
- Intrusive banner ads and pop ups
- Poor UI/UX design (i.e., the visitor does not know where to find what they need)
- Irrelevant content (either due to clickbaity means of driving traffic or incorrect keyword targeting)
- Confusing CTAs and offers
Once you have identified the culprit (or culprits), all you have to do is address it, and you should see your bounce rate start to improve.
Here are some ways from Neil Patel to improve your bounce rate.