Bounce rate: what is it and how do you optimize it?

If you regularly browse Google Analytics, you’ve probably come across it: bounce rate. But do you know what this metric means? In this blog, I’ll explain it to you. And I’ll give you a few tips to help you optimize your bounce rate.

What is bounce rate?

The bounce rate tells you how many visitors to your website click away after one page. Such a visitor clicking away immediately results in a session of only one page. We call that a bounce. Google Analytics calculates the bounce rate with a simple formula:

(Number of bounces / total number of sessions) x 100

So it does not matter how long a visitor is on that one page. As long as the session ends after one page visited, it’s a bounce. And the more bounces you have, the higher your bounce rate.

What is a good bounce rate?

Now you might be thinking that you always want your bounce rate to be as low as possible. After all, a high bounce rate would mean poor conversion. You want to keep people on your Web site as long as possible, right?

This is often the case, but not always. Sometimes you want people to get off your Web site as quickly as possible. For example, because you link to a partner Web site, or because you want people to quickly find the information they are looking for. Wikipedia, for example, has a tremendously high bounce rate because people find the answer to their question on the first page they visit.

Even on your blog, a high bounce rate doesn’t have to be a bad sign. If people know how to find your blog posts, read them with attention and enjoyment, and then click away again, you will have a high bounce rate. But those same people can become loyal readers. They can tell their friends about your blog. And they may share the blog on social media. You can’t read all that from the bounce rate.

So a good bounce rate is not necessarily high or low. A good bounce rate is the bounce rate that fits your goals.

Is there a relationship with SEO?

Because a high or low bounce rate says nothing about the relevance or quality of your content, Google does not use this metric to determine your SERP position. So a high bounce rate does not necessarily have a negative effect on your SEO.

Still, a high bounce rate may cause a lower position in Google. A bounce can generally have two causes:

• The visitor found what he was looking for on the first page he visited. His needs have been met and he clicks away again.
• The visitor cannot find what he is looking for on the first page he visits. Nor does he feel that he is going to find it on other pages on your website and clicks away again, looking for another website.

Only with the second cause does a high bounce rate negatively affect your SERP position. Google’s clever algorithm can distinguish between these two causes. But you unfortunately cannot see this reflected in your Google Analytics.

How do you optimize bounce rate?

There are, of course, ways to optimize your bounce rate. Before optimizing, make sure you have your goal clearly in mind. Do you want your bounce rate to be as low or high as possible? We will assume for now that you want to get your bounce rate down, since this is what happens most often.

For a lower bounce rate, you can do the following things:

Analyze your data

Optimization always starts with good analysis. Go into Google Analytics to find where things are going wrong. Do all your pages have a low bounce rate? Or are there a few rotten apples among them? That can already make a big difference.

Also take a look at the “Channels” report. There you will find the bounce rates of specific sources and media. Maybe only organic traffic causes a high bounce rate and you need to do something about the meta description. Or maybe your social posts are too clickbait-like and you see a high bounce rate as a result.

That way you can go into even more detail. The better you know what is causing your high bounce rate, the better you can optimize it.

Set the right expectations

An unmet expectation is the main cause of a bounce. If someone visits your website expecting to find information about rabbits, but on the first page they only find information about cows, they will click away. So creating the right expectation is super important. Here are a few tips to help you create better expectations right away:

• Make sure the title of a blog post or page reflects the content well
• Make sure the meta description makes it clear what the page is about
• Make sure your ads are crisp and not too clickbait-like
• Make sure your ads link to the right pages, such as a landing page
• On the page itself, make it quickly clear what the visitor can expect on that page. Let the visitor know he has come to the right place.

Keep the visitor on your website

If you set the right expectations, chances are more people will stick around on the first page. But that’s not enough. Remember: no matter how long a session lasts, if only one page is visited, it’s a bounce. Instead, you want to retain the visitor and redirect them to other pages on your Web site. For example, you want them to go to a contact or download page, or you want them to order something and go to a check-out page.

There are two main ways to keep a visitor on your Web site. First, it is important to have a user-friendly website. Second, you can keep people on your website longer through internal link building. Consider a sidebar with related blog posts or products, CTAs such as “request the free brochure here,” or buttons that link to an important page.

This way, you invite visitors to visit other pages on your website and you will see your bounce rate slowly but surely decrease.

More visitors to your site thanks to Hulc

Another way to get your bounce rate down is to generate more visitors who do visit multiple pages. Hulc can help. On Hulc you will find more than 3,700 influencers and bloggers who will help you generate more traffic to your website. For example, by writing a blog about you, or making a social post.

Curious about the possibilities? Then take a look at our site. There we will be happy to tell you exactly how we can help you get more visitors (and a lower bounce rate?).