Bounce rate refers to the percentage of internet users who visit a particular webpage only views one page and then leave the site (“bounce”) instead of browsing other pages within the specific website. There a number of ways that can be used to leave the site. This include closing the tab, typing a new website URL, clicking the “back” button, visiting a link to another website. The bounce rate for a whole website is calculated by dividing the total amount of website visitors who bounce between the total visits registered by the website. To calculate a bounce rate for a single page, the total number of internet surfers who visit the website and bounce is divided by the total amount of visitors who enter the website using that specific page.
Bounce rates are used by internet markets to ascertain website performance. Homepages that enjoy low bounce rates are those that are gripping enough to generate the required curiosity in website visitors to continue viewing the other pages of the website, as Google Analytics specialist Kaushik (2007), pointed out. Nevertheless, enjoying a high bounce rate is not necessarily means low performance. Example of this are websites with very few pages, or those were the homepage is the most important page, as it contains all aspects necessary for website success. In the case of online businesses, bounce rates must be examined in relation with purchase conversion rates, to determine the total amount of website visits that have not generated any purchase.
According to Kaushik, the analysis of bounce rate is much more effective and valuable for internet marketers than that of the exit rate of a website. Exit rate refers to the total number of visitors who entered a website and then exited it. Therefore, in Kaushik’s opinion, exit rate is not an accurate indicator of website performance, as the most viewed websites will obviously have the highest numbers of exits. In his view, only few successful websites have a 20% bounce rate. The most unsuccessful websites are those that have above 50% bounce rate. Keywords, format, design, advertisement campaigns and other aspects can be modified and improved by webmaster to improve bounce rates.
How much bounce rate do you think is acceptable for a site? I have seen that it is too difficult to achieve less than 20%, do you think it is ok?
Bounce rate depends on the page, the site, the query etc. We have some pages with a bounce rate of 20% and some with a rate as high as 80%. The main aim is to get people to contact you, so if you have your contact details on all pages, then that goal can be achieved.