When we create a website and we start giving the steps to make it an important part of our business, there are many factors and elements that we have to take into consideration. One of these elements is a group called Analytics which covers many areas that we must take care of. Today we want to see what is Bounce Rate.

Well, according to Google, a bounce is a single-page session on your site. In Analytics, a bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session.

Bounce rate is single-page sessions divided by all sessions, or the percentage of all sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page and triggered only a single request to the Analytics server.

Now, this definition as is, it’s a little bit hard to understand.

Now, exactly what is Bounce Rate?

Your website’s bounce rate is the percentage of people who land on a page on your website, then leave. They don’t click on anything else. They just get to one of your pages, stay there for a while, and then leave. I mean, they either close that tab or simply go to another website.

Even though there are several scenarios or points of view about it, the truth is that a high bounce rate is bad for our website. It’s more or less similar to when a person goes to a store, enters, just have a glance of what is there, and then goes immediately. They don’t say anything, they don’t do anything, they just leave the store. And of course, this is bad for our business.

How to check your Bounce Rate

You can check your bounce rate inside Google Analytics, under Audience -> Overview

The Analytics that Google presents corresponds to your website’s overall bounce rate. Your website actually has multiple bounce rates, though: the bounce rate of each page tells you the percentage of visitors that landed on that page and ‘bounced’ off; the bounce rate of each device tells you the percentage of people using mobiles, tablets and desktop computers bounced off, and so on. Here I show some ways in which you can actually reduce high bounce rates…

How to Reduce High Bounce Rates   

At this moment, you might be won­dering what you can do about it. Well, there are several things that actually you can do, but don’t worry. In general, high bounce rates might indicate that that page is irrelevant or confusing to site visitors. Note that I said “that” page, not your whole website. Remember, people lands in one of the pages in our site. It can be the home page or any other internal page.

A mobile-friendly website

It’s a reality that there are now more searches and traffic coming from mobile devices than desktops. Try not only to provide a mobile-ready experience, but to make sure that experience is engaging. Think about yourself, do you like having to zoom-in and out just to read the content of a website? Of course, not. So make sure that the mobile version of your website is user-friendly and interactive.

Use engaging elements on your website

Video is one particularly engaging type of content. It can often explain complex topics more concisely than text, which is why many people would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. Be careful, though. When it comes to mobile usage, long videos require a significant amount of data and might therefore slow the user experience — causing the visitor to bounce. For that reason, consider eliminating these longer videos from your mobile site, or creating more concise versions that still address the most important points.

Consider the bounce rate based on different sources

Pay attention to the sources where your traffic is coming from. Consider the fact that it might come from Social Media, organic search (SEO), or even from a promotion in a marketing campaign. Try to align the message that you say on the above line and the message that your page actually say. I mean, you cannot say something on Social Media, and present something different on the page that you link that banner, promotion or ad. It must be coherent one and another. You may say, that it’s weird or illogical, but let me tell you, it happens frequently.

Focus on the user

It’s super important that we pay attention to the rules and tactics of good SEO practices. That’s true, but in most cases, SEO is for the search engines, hence its name. Try to make a balance between good SEO and UX, I mean User eXperience. At the end, it’s your user, or your future customer, the most important part of all. User experience is the way the website is designed, whether it is pleasant or not, if it looks nice or ugly, if it is functional and practical or difficult to navigate. In the end, it is your user or your future client, the most important part of everything.

Use forms and pop-ups in a smart way. If you use videos, try not to setup them in a way to start automatically. This simply kills the emotion. People want to be in control. They decide when or if they want to see it.

CONCLUSION

Remember that your end goal is that your users stay for as long as needed to convert. And when I say convert, I refer that they take the action that you want in that page, whether it be subscribe to a list or purchase a product or service.

Most of the time they will not buy something from the first visit, so you have to work your page in such a way that they like it so much, that they be curious of what else do you have. And if they find useful resources, then they might bookmark your website in order to come back for more, and eventually become your paid customers.