What is a bounce rate?

The bounce rate is a metric used in web analytic packages and can be very useful when analysing the success of a website. Basically the bouce rate tells you the percentage of visitor who leave a site after only visiting the page they landed on. This can occur for many reasons such as:

• The visitor clicked an external link on your page
• They simply closed their browser
• They clicked on one of your adverts
• They clicked the back button or decided to visit a different site
• They found the information they were looking for on the first page.
• Its a single page website
• They just wanted your phone number/ address.

Normally the lower the percentage the better, as it means that visitors are interested in your sites content and want to read more. However a high bounce rate doesn’t always mean that the site is failing you, as said above there are many reasons why a visitor can leave without visiting other pages on your site, and not all of them are negative.

What is a high bounce rate?

Websites are normally quite bouncy to start with as its important to give enough information on a page so that visitors get an instant answer and then decide from there if they want further information. An average bounce rate is normally around 55%-65%, with 40%-50% being considered low.