When we put a lot of effort into something, we become very eager to know about its performance. Not out of curiosity, but to see whether we are in the right direction?
Similarly, when a website is developed, the stakeholders perform various analyses to measure its performance. They experiment not out of curiosity or excitement but to test functionality. They use various metrics, and today, in this article, we will talk about one such metric essential for all website owners: Bounce Rate. Without any further ado, let's dive right in and explore the topic together.
Definition of Bounce Rate and Its Importance
In web analysis, bounce rate refers to the percentage of people who have left your website after viewing only a single page. This means that the users have visited your website, but without any further interaction, they just left. Neither the users engaged in any activity nor visited any other website page.
This metric is crucial for website owners as it tells them about the impression their website is making on its visitors. When people leave the website without performing any activity, this indicates they didn't get what they were looking for, resulting in their immediate exit from the website.
Bounce Rate vs Exit Rate vs Session Duration
There are several metrics available for the analysis of the website, with each having its distinct functionality. Despite this distinction, people often confuse bounce rate, exit rate and session duration.
As already discussed, Bounce Rate is the percentage of people who leave the website after visiting a single page. In contrast, Exit Rate calculates the percentage of people who exit from a particular page. We're sure you got confused by the 'exit' part in both metrics.
Source: Databox
The difference is that the bounce rate means the visitor has visited only a single page. On the other hand, the exit rate has nothing to do with how many pages a user has visited. It just gives you the percentage of people leaving the site from a particular page.
People also often confuse Session Time and Bounce Rate due to their correlation. Session time indicates the average time users spend on the entire website, while bounce rate focuses on the immediate reaction of users upon visiting the website. A higher bounce rate means a short session time, as people leave the website without interaction. These two metrics may correlate but are very different from each other.
How does Bounce Rate affect Search Engine Rankings and Organic Traffic?
The bounce rate indicates whether people are staying on your website or not. The reasons for a high bounce rate could be due to various factors, such as poor website design or irrelevant content. However, the outcome remains the same - visitors are not spending much time on your website. On the other hand, Search engines aim to provide relevant results matching user needs. Thus, they take bounce rate very seriously as it tells them about the user experience.
When the bounce rate of a website goes high, it indicates to search engines that either the website is irrelevant, or the user experience was not up to mark. In any of these cases, the website's ranking on the search engine results page will suffer, i.e. it will get ranked lower by the search engine. Since the website will appear at the bottom of the search results, it will reduce its visibility to potential visitors, causing a decrease in organic traffic.
Relation Between Bounce Rate and Conversion Rate
Another thing that is affected by a high bounce rate is the conversion rate. A higher bounce rate means many people are leaving your website without any further engagement, and if there is no engagement, how can a visitor turn into a client?
For a user to become your client, they must be convinced by the quality of your services. It is crucial to ensure the website is easy to navigate and user-friendly. They are not interacting with it, seeing the other features, and taking any action. A single-page visit would never turn a user into a client; they need to know about the website, which is only possible if they go through it. Thus, it's essential to stop the bounce rate from increasing.
Factors that Influence Bounce Rates
Website Loading Time
The very first factor that could be responsible for a high bounce rate is website loading time. It also makes sense because we live in a fast-paced world; thus, no one wants to wait for a long time. Everyone is looking for quick results!
The technology has also been advanced to the next level, and due to this, the websites out there are constantly making themselves faster. You also need to ensure the same; otherwise, you will lose your traffic and get behind in the competition. Remember, even a slight delay can significantly affect user satisfaction.
Content
The second factor could be the content. Even if your website loads faster but fails to deliver promising content, you may lose potential visitors. It's crucial to deliver engaging content. You need to consider a lot of things while drafting it.
First, you must ensure it is relevant, i.e. aligns with your website's services. Secondly, you must ensure it is more than just a bulk of information. It should be creative to capture the attention of visitors. Relevant, captivating and well-written content will keep the users engaged, thus reducing bounce rates. In simple words, make sure there is quality and relevance to your content.
Website Design and Functionality
Next comes website design and functionality. The right content will only be of use if it is placed the right way. You must ensure that users can navigate the website and find what they need. This goal can only be achieved if the website design is user-friendly.
Another challenge that you will face while doing this is to ensure creativity in the UI. Overall, the website design should attract users and provide them with information easily. A poorly designed website, with content clustered here and there, will make it easier for users to go through it, resulting in them leaving the website.
Responsiveness
At this point, a majority of us are familiar with smartphones. If possible, a lot of us work on phones as well. The same goes for tablets as well. The point is that people are NOT restricted to a single screen size. They use different devices. As a website owner, it's your responsibility to make your website friendly for all screen sizes, i.e. responsive.
Let's understand its importance via example. Suppose you have a website that publishes news. If the articles on mobile screens are cropped, and the buttons are small and closely placed, it would be difficult for users to read news and interact with the website functionalities. So, after this experience, will you return to your website or even stay there? This is why responsiveness is necessary to avoid this kind of user experience.
Pop-ups and Advertisements
Yes, advertisements are necessary as they are one of the sources of revenue. Similarly, pop-ups are also critical as they inform users about various deals or programs on the website. But neither of these should come at the cost of user experience. Include it, but you have to ensure it doesn't annoy or disrupt the user's experience. If these elements come one after the other in a short period, users may leave the website immediately.
When crafting the strategy, you have to think as a user. How do you feel when you go through the website and there are many ads? Or you are reading a blog, and pop-ups are coming one after the other. Would you like that thing? Would you stay there? We bet the answer would be no. Thus, try to avoid aggressive advertising, which doesn't mean avoiding it altogether.
Conclusion
The bounce rate metric is not something you can ignore. It tells you how many per cent of visitors are leaving your website after viewing only a single page, something that you should be aware of! Just keep a close eye on it, track it regularly and make changes accordingly. This is necessary because your search engine rankings and client conversion take a dent if the bounce rate is high, so try to ensure it's not there with your website.
