Bounce Rate? What is a Bounce Rate?

Do You Know Your Bounce Rate?
Do You Know Your Bounce Rate?
The bounce rate of a website, or of any given page, is an important measure of whether you have captured a reader’s interest enough to click and visit another page on your site. It is more important to some types of sites than others, and is often dismissed by considerations of the ratio of returning visitors to new visitors, but it should not be ignored. I know a lot of people understand bounce rate, but I still thought it was worth blogging about because you should hear it from somebody, and maybe I will give you a different angle on this.

Does Bounce Rate Affect Search Engine Rankings

The answer is no … and yes. Although bounce rate is purportedly not used in the ranking algorithm of Google or other search engines, some people will still try to insist that it is. I have heard arguments that even if Google used it, they would keep it very secret because it is too easy to cheat in the ways people have cheated to have higher Alexa rank. I think it is worth considering what Google has to say about bounce rate, and how true it is. According to Google’s Matt Cutts, it is “Spamable and noisy” data, and I agree. There are many things that can cause a higher or lower bounce rate that it is not useful as a single measure and requires other factors to become useful data. The ways that bounce rate can affect search engine ranking are outside of the search engine algorithms, and come down to how useful your site is to people and if it is not useful, they are probably not linking to it. Bounce rate is a symptom and not a cause.

Bounce Rate Factors

Bounce rate is subject to many different diluting factors, and a good example is Wikipedia. If I search for something and I find the answer at Wikipedia, I will likely not visit another page in that same browser session, thus creating a “bounce” for Wikipedia. This is an example of a high bounce rate being a good thing, because I did not need to click around to find my answer. I found it, Wikipedia’s job was done well, and I will still return often. There are a lot of things which may cause a high bounce rate, and it is not all bad. This does not mean you can ignore it, though.

You really should not ignore your bounce rate, because it can still play a role in your SEO efforts and make a difference in your rankings for other reasons. For example, if your bounce rate is on the rise but your site has not changed, it would be best to determine why before you start losing people’s interest any further. Is the information less relevant than it once was? If so, you really should pay attention to this. If people lose interest, they will probably stop returning to your site, linking to your site, and sharing it with others. If it is a blog, maybe you need better content, or maybe the content is so good that they come back every day to read more. Whatever the instance, you should be measuring this and know the answer. An important measure is not only whether the bounce rate is high or low, but whether it is changing.

How Bounce Rate is Calculated

Bounce rate of a website is calculated based on the total number of visitors of only one page in a session divided by the total number of visits to the site. Because it is based on a “session” there are several ways a bounce can occur. Things that can cause a bounce are clicking a link to another site, closing the browser window, clicking the back button to try their search again, or a session timeout, which could mean they just left your page open and went to lunch.

Don’t Bounce Me Just Yet!

I did mention the ratio of returning visitors to new visitors. If you have a high bounce rate, but you still have a very high number of returning visitors, it is easy to be relaxed about this. There are a lot of instances where a high bounce rate can still be a sign of potential improvements, such as emphasizing a further call to action. If you give people a reason to stick around right now, you will also improve your chances of a return visit, that they will bookmark your site, subscribe to your blog, or better yet, share it with friends.

The bottom line is that if you are not doing all that you can to make your website more useful, you are leaving the doors open for the competition. Knowing your bounce rate and knowing why it is high, low, or on the move can be a good step in the right direction.

By the way, while you are here, you may like to take a look at my “Recent Articles” listed to the left of the page. I would also invite you to visit the list of articles in my blog archive. I have worked very hard to make it useful for you.


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SEO Matt Cutts’ Way

Search engine optimization (SEO) comes in many forms, but SEO the Matt Cutts way is the one that matters. I cannot speak for Matt Cutts, and he has not personally approved my blog post, but I can tell you where his blog is (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog), and you can read it straight from him.

Who is Matt Cutts?

If you have not heard this name before, it could be a good thing, because you probably are not too worried about spamming search engines with useless or unethical content. Matt Cutts is the lead man responsible for keeping useless or dishonest results out of Google’s response pages when you perform a search. In a very real way, he could be considered the ultimate SEO guy. He will not make your Website show up in more searches or rank higher in the ways that other SEOs do, but what he does is to be sure that the bad results do not clutter your way.

Tricking Matt Cutts

Trying to trick your way to the top of search engine results is a clear example of “what not to do”. Reading all of the SEO blogs and forums on the latest means to trick your way around providing high quality content in a useful format will not trick Matt Cutts’ Webspam team at Google. The mystical Google algorythm that people keep trying to figure out should not be your concern. What should be your concern is that you are providing your Website users with a good and useful experience and providing what they want.

I have been providing SEO services for over a decade, and I have watched all of the latest SEO fads. There have been too many tricks to name, but here are a few throwbacks: doorway pages, cloaking, hidden text, repeated keywords. SEO fads come and go, but if you will follow the basic principles outlined in the Webmaster Guidelines at Google, you will never have to re-work your site to be “in compliance” with search engines.

Search Engine Compliance

I have seen many SEOs claim that they constantly study all of the changes of Google and other search engines and will provide ongoing support to assure that your site will always be in compliance with the latest changes. Sadly, I think there must be a lot of people who really buy into this. The thing you should know about this is that if your Website is well-written and has the most relevant content to the search engine user’s query, there is nothing to change. Sure, the competition may change, but the compliance does not. If you have doubts about what is in compliance or not, it is time for you to read what Google says about SEO.

Trying to cheat a search engine is the path of most resistence. I have written about this for years, and it still holds true. My way, and the Matt-Cutts-friendly way, is to produce quality Website content that people want. Do not try to trick anybody. If you will simply play by the rules, you will spend a lot less time and money trying to keep all of the SEO balls in the air.