The Importance of Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate
A Powerful Way to Conceptualize The Importance of Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is something that I pay a great deal of attention to. However, I try (often too hard) to get my clients to pay attention to this important measurement.
Search traffic is important. Someone is searching for you and they find you. Once they find you then you want them to stay on your website. It is essentially a total failure if your site is presented in search and people who visit “bounce away”.
Bounce rate is something that Google pays attention to and they should. If Google presents a set of results after someone searched then Google can see what is clicked on and whether the searcher returns to search again. When someone returns quickly then it would be clear that the website which was presented was not satisfying enough for the person to remain on it.
Here is a way to emphasize how impactful bounce rate could be. Consider this scenario. Google announces that it will now present a bounce rate value, based on real data, for all the websites it presents to searchers. It could look something like this.
Attention Website Owners – Bounce Rate Matters!
Website Bounce Rate – I wonder if people would pay more attention to their bounce rate if it was presented in the search results.
Bounce rate is important. If the bounce rate is high and high for multiple search terms then this could be a major factor in you search position. A high bounce rate will cause your position in search to drop.
Google analytics is an easy way for a website owner or marketing director to understand the bounce rate. Marketing means experimentation and to reduce your bounce is a very important exercise. Consider A/B experiments as a means to reduce your bounce rate.
If you do not have a responsive website design then pay close attention to the bounce rate for people visiting your site with a smart phone. Keep in mind that more that 50% of website traffic is now mobile and if your site does not create a pleasant user experience then you again can expect a lower position in search.
Bounce rate is something that needs to be a priority. It makes no sense to have traffic coming from search and then have that vital traffic bounce away.
If you want to learn about A/B Testing then I invite you to use any of the links below:
Hyperlinks (make all hyperlinks bold font)
About Gary Horsman