What Do Bounce Rates Mean to Your Website?

Bounce rate, which is defined as the percentage of people who visit a website and then leave without viewing more than one page, can be a tricky thing to understand.  It seems simple, a high bounce rate means that people aren’t spending quality time on a website, and therefore the website will suffer a low ranking.  However, there is more to it than meets the eye.  Some say that a high bounce rate is not necessarily a bad thing because it may mean that visitors to a site are getting exactly what they need from the very first page they view. In a perfect world, this would be true, but more often that not, a high bounce rate means something is missing or turning off visitors.  Even if visitors do find what they were looking for on the first page, it doesn’t hurt to have a website that creates more interaction with visitors.

There is an ongoing debate as to whether search engines actually consider a website’s bounce rate in their analysis, and if so, what effect does it have on ranking.  Regardless of the effect it may or may not have on ranking, bounce rate is a beneficial tool for determining how people are interacting with a website.  A high bounce rate may very well mean that there is a problem with a website that needs remedied.

Reasons a website may suffer from high bounce rates can include slow loading time (over 3 seconds), too much content to read, not enough content, too many ads or offers, content unrelated to search, poor grammar or spelling, missing call to action, and lack of mobile-friendliness.  Fixing any number of these issues could make visitors more likely to stay longer on a website and decrease bounce rate.

At this point most people are wondering, what is a good bounce rate?  An appropriate bounce rate depends on the industry your business is in, and it is beneficial for a company to have a target bounce rate to stay at or below depending on their audience and what people are using their website for.

Call i3 Media Solutions today and we can help further explain bounce rate and what you could do to ensure your website keeps visitors engaged.