What is the bounce rate?

The bounce rate is the percentage of sessions on the website at which users access and leave the page. The value describes how many visitors enter the page and then turn their backs on it again – without carrying out a specific action. The bounce rate indicates the percentage of visitors who leave a website before they continue to interact with it in any way. This metric can be important for certain websites, as it mainly gives an idea of the first impression the page makes. It tells you whether the target page meets the expectations of the visitors who landed there.

Bounce rate is an important performance factor

Since Google and other search engines most likely include the behaviour of visitors to websites as a ranking factor, the bounce rate should definitely be kept in mind by the webmaster. It can certainly have a positive or negative effect on the SEO performance. The call up of another page of this domain or a transaction carried out does not count as a jump. Also staying longer than a certain period of time is considered a success. The bounce rate usually has a percentage value, which can be viewed in analysis tools such as Google Analytics. The lower this value, the better it is and the fewer users leave the website again. A slightly higher bounce rate is not always an absolute sign that the website is bad. Blogs, for example, can have shorter retention times than corporate sites. Of course, the webmaster wants to have the lowest possible bounce rate on pages that are supposed to bring the user to a conversion. The aim and purpose of the site therefore always determine the bounce rate as a measure of visit quality, which incidentally is always dependent on the core business of the respective company.

How to achieve a low bounce rate

In principle, one should avoid any negative user experience, then much has already been gained. Since the visitor is the first to notice the layout and design, this is an enormously important part of the puzzle. As in many other areas, the first impression is crucial. Among other things, the user instinctively decides within a few seconds whether the website can be considered serious or not. So always use colour combinations and fonts wisely! Other areas of usability also contribute to a good value, including navigation and clarity. Users often jump off if they cannot find their way around the website in a short time. Of course, there can be many other reasons why a visitor jumps off a page again. Technical reasons, for example, or if the user has found the desired information very quickly and thus reached his destination. Unprofessional chaos, confusion, bad formatting and outdated layouts / designs can also cause negative values. Too much advertising (banners, pop-ups) can have a negative effect on the bounce rate. Another common cause is insufficient or incorrect content, both in terms of design and content. The webmaster has to ask himself whether the readers questions are answered quickly and whether the content fits the target group. Therefore, one should always keep an eye on the content in the first place, as this is the main reason for the visitor to call up the page. Wrong keywords and misleading titles of pages should be avoided at all costs. Low loading times of websites are also very important, especially in times of high mobile traffic. So keep data volumes low and keep users on the go! The operator can always exert a positive influence and lower the bounce rate by optimizing content, design, layout and technology.