Bounce Rate is 81.13% - How bad?

by Okoji Banned
9 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Hello friends,

I just started with google analytics few days ago.

Looking at my account, I discovered that the bounce rate of my main site is 81.31%.

I will love to how bad this rate is and what I can do improve it.

Thank you,
Okoji
#8113% #bad #bounce #rate
  • Yeah, that could be a lot better. Take a look at your layout and, if its a blog or any kind of site that links to other pages/stories/articles, make your headlines for those more compelling to encourage click-thru's.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    Don't be too concerned about your bounce rate. Focus on conversions, no matter the goal.

    What do you want a visitor to do once they reach the site? Adsense click, Amazon click, email opt-in, product sale, or maybe move onto a particular page? Track those and you'll know whether your bounce rate is adequate and where you are losing them. It is easier to fix when you know what the problem is.
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  • Profile picture of the author john smith1
    My suggestion is take a look at design and content part. Because of these only your bounce rate is 81%
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  • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
    Without considering it in conjunction with other stats and site purpose it doesn't really mean much except to make you worried for no reason.

    Many informational sites will have a high bounce rate because they're so well targeted to the search request. For example, if I'm looking up a programming question I may land on a single page that answers my query and I leave. This would cause a high bounce rate although the site is doing quite well answering my question.

    Another example, you have a sales page with protected or offsite payment and download processing. A buy will look like a bounce too.

    Another, sites like Digg and Drudge Report have very high bounce rates since they're designed to connect visitors with other sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author socialbookmark
      Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

      Without considering it in conjunction with other stats and site purpose it doesn't really mean much except to make you worried for no reason.

      Many informational sites will have a high bounce rate because they're so well targeted to the search request. For example, if I'm looking up a programming question I may land on a single page that answers my query and I leave. This would cause a high bounce rate although the site is doing quite well answering my question.

      Another example, you have a sales page with protected or offsite payment and download processing. A buy will look like a bounce too.

      Another, sites like Digg and Drudge Report have very high bounce rates since they're designed to connect visitors with other sites.
      Thanks bgmacaw, So as you said, it highly depends on the subject of websites. Yes? For example for a search engine it should be low but for information websites, it can be low. Yes?
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      • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
        Originally Posted by socialbookmark View Post

        Thanks bgmacaw, So as you said, it highly depends on the subject of websites. Yes? For example for a search engine it should be low but for information websites, it can be low. Yes?
        A lot of it depends on how targeted the searcher is and what their goal in finding your site is.

        Information seekers, which includes a lot of buyers, will be very targeted and may not care about the rest of your site unless it is highly related. These visitors will exit (hopefully through an ad link) after getting what they need from the page.

        Entertainment seekers, surfers, won't be targeted and will tend to browse around a site they think is interesting. They won't be serious buyers and aren't as likely to click ads, sign-up for email lists and so forth. They're also likely to forget your site in the jumble of other sites they've surfed through.

        In general, I've found it more effective concentrating on the buyers and other targeted visitors rather than trying to rope in reluctant, unengaged, surfers. This means a higher bounce rate but more money and more return visitors for the majority of the sites I operate.
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  • Profile picture of the author lukemeister
    If a site is product based, I've found that adding more pages with info about related products and accessories decreases bounce rate considerably
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  • Profile picture of the author keys2prosper
    I have a site at 73% bounce rate but still making a good amount of money from it. Like FRAGGLER said... what do you want that traffic to do? FOCUS on that and I think you can't go wrong.

    Funny thing is I have another site that has a 0.42% bounce rate and I thing something is wrong with the google analytics code. Anybody hear of that kind of bounce?

    Average time on site is over 3 min.

    How is yours OKOJI?

    Cheers man

    Tony
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Goodwin
    As others have noted, it depends on what type of site it is. For my micro niche adsense sites, I want bounce rates that high.
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