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Bounce rate is overrated.
For some reason, people LOVE bounce rate. Maybe it has to do with its fun, catchy name, or that it's a percentage (everyone love percentages!), or that Avinash Kaushik talks about it a lot. Regardless, analysts and data-folks put too much stock in this one statistic, often making it the sole narrative in their web results assessments without looking at the whole story. I have countless anecdotes where colleagues or clients hone in on a high bounce rate and promptly freak out, even after seeing other objectively successful results.
This isn't to say I hate this particular statistic, it's just that the number doesn't say nearly as much as most people think it does. I find that this is often caused by a gross misunderstanding of the term itself.
Just so we're all working from the same textbook here, my definition of bounce rate is this: Bounce rate is the % of visitors that entered a website and left from the same page, without visiting any other pages during their visit. It [mostly] doesn't have to do with time spent on the site, and it doesn't mean that the users puked on their keyboards. It means what it means; they came, viewed, and left.
Bounce rate is just an indicator, just like any other statistic. A high bounce rate doesn't mean your landing page sucks (but it could!) and a low bounce rate doesn't mean your landing page is great (because it might not be!). It's just a piece of the puzzle. Looking at bounce rate any differently is just lazy.
The idea of bounce rate is best explored when considering specific scenarios.
Scenario #1: High bounce rate from a paid search campaign
You have a paid search campaign and you're driving users to various pages on your website. However, you've noticed that one particular page has a 74% bounce rate (gasp!). Surely, this means that this landing page needs to be blown up and completely redesigned, re-planned, and redeveloped.
But wait, your keywords driving to this page are highly relevant to the page's content, and the time on page is pretty high. Doesn't that count for anything?
What if your paid search visitors got to to that one page, found what they were looking for and left satisfied? What if they watched the video you wanted them to watch, or downloaded the brochure you wanted them to download? All of these factors must be taken into account when looking at bounce rate. In this way, bounce rate is more about the audience experience. Are the experience results what you expected? That is a question you should seriously consider before becoming enamored with one statistic.
Scenario #2: Low bounce rate from a paid search campaign
Now, what would have happened if you sent those clicks to other pages on the site instead? Perhaps your bounce rate dropped to 50%, but also consider that many users may have simply clicked from page to page trying to find the information they needed, ultimately leaving unsatisfied after a poor user experience. All they needed was the information on that one page in the first place.
This particular scenario may have multiple outcomes: For example, you may need to change your landing page URLs to be more relevant to user needs (like the first page), or perhaps your website has some confusing navigation.
Bounce rate can be a powerful metric when used correctly. In the end, bounce rate "success" comes down to a few key points:
- Was the main site objective fulfilled?
- Was the audience objective fulfilled?
- Did the visitor have a positive site experience?
- How does the bounce rate play into the entire narrative?
- What are the other metrics that play into the story?
You will only understand the answers to these questions by putting yourself in the audience's mindset and internalizing their goals and expectations before reviewing results.
In lieu of blowing up your landing page, ask yourself those questions first - better yet, ask the users themselves with a survey - and make sure you are putting the right resources in the right places to improve your bottom line results.
