Updated: November 1, 2023
When it comes to digital marketing, a website’s bounce rate is among the most important metrics to consider. Whether you have a 100% bounce rate or your bounce rate is 0, you should have a clear understanding of what needs to be done about it.
The website bounce rate gives you valuable information about your visitors. If the rate is high, it means users may not be interested enough to take action. As a result, your Google rankings may falter.
If you have a low bounce rate, it’s an indication of a good website structure and quality content. However, a zero bounce rate could mean technical problems with your website. Meanwhile, a high bounce rate isn’t an indication of failure.
In this article, we’ll talk about the website bounce rate and its importance for your marketing campaign.
What is a website bounce rate?
Back in the day, a “bounce” was considered any website visit where a user leaves without taking any action (clicking to go to another page). It doesn’t matter how much time they spend on the website, one second or one hour; if they leave without clicking, it’s a bounce.
It didn’t matter which action a visitor took, but as long as they clicked on something, Google would consider it an interaction. So, if a visitor came to one page of your website and left immediately, it was considered a bounce. If they click any button or link that leads them to another page of the website (regardless of the time they spend there), it’s not a bounce.
However, things have changed over time.
Nowadays, Google search engines won’t consider visit a bounce if a person clicks on an element or if they spend at least 10 seconds on the site. In other words, you can now avoid the bounce by enticing a person to stay for at least several seconds. So, even if they read just a few sentences, you won’t get penalized.
If you think about it, this change makes sense. Some people visit pages just to read a paragraph or two, after which they leave. Given that Google nowadays highlights potential answers, you can finish your visit even quicker.
Website owners have noticed this trend and are trying to avoid any fluff. Their content is much more focused, so it makes sense that a person can gain valuable information by spending at least 10 seconds on a site. In other words, even if a session seems short, it might still be considered a successful one.
How to check the bounce rate?
In Google Analytics, you have access to a website bounce rate. It indicates the average number of bounces on all of your pages divided by the number of visits across those pages during the same period.
It’s also possible to track a single page bounce rate or check the bounce rate of a certain website segment (selection of several pages). The data shouldn’t only be used in a vacuum but also in conjunction with other website data to better understand performance.
In the last few years, Google has placed more emphasis on user engagement data. Things such as time spent on a page, the number of page views per session, and bounce rate now play a vital role in assessing content quality.
Keep in mind that we don’t know exactly how bounce rate affects your rating. However, based on what we’ve seen, pages with high bounce rates find it hard to rank. Retaining users for at least 10 seconds might not necessarily boost your placement in Google, but it will most certainly prevent you from slipping.
Of course, if you want to make a real impact, you shouldn’t only focus on reducing bounce rate. You should improve all engagement metrics across the board. Aside from that, you also need to consider the traditional ranking factors such as links.
What is the average bounce rate?
For the majority of websites, bounce rates are between 25% and 70%. The average bounce rate is about 50%. So, if you have a bounce rate between 25% and 40%, you are doing well.
If it’s between 41% and 55%, your results are average. Anything between 56% and 70% is more than average but still reasonable. If the rate is higher than 70%, it could be an issue.
Your bounce rate heavily depends on the type of landing page and the content you post there. For example, a page with a blog post is unlikely to have a low bounce rate. Most people come to that page to read it and leave without any further action.
However, if the goal of your page is to obtain contact information, help people register for an event, or take another action, a high bounce rate could turn into a problem.
A 100% bounce rate: Is it bad?
If you have a 100% bounce rate, it means that every single person who comes to your website leaves without interacting with it.
We speculate that bounce rate wasn’t that much of an issue for search engines five years back (although there’s no way it was a positive sign). But even if we disregard its impact on search engines, having most people leave your pages prematurely is still a problem for conversions.
The MiroMind team thinks that a high bounce rate is much more significant nowadays than in the years prior. First, search engines pay much more attention to user engagement than before, so low performance will likely affect your placement.
Secondly, given that the bounce rate was refined, having a high bounce rate is much more condemning. Unlike years prior, where there was room for interpretation, having a high bounce rate today is a clear sign that people absolutely don’t care about your content.
What should you do about a 100% bounce rate on the page?
A 100% site-wide bounce rate is usually a technical issue. Perhaps you’ve just changed the domain names, and links don’t update properly, leading to 404 errors. Or your website could be suffering from malware.
If you see a 100% bounce rate site-wide, try to narrow the problem down to several pages so you can analyze each one separately. If you’ve removed menus or sidebars, you’ve minimized the number of internal links, causing the bounce rate to go up.
Even if the page that shows a 100% bounce rate was initially an information page without interlinking potential, look for recently made changes.
Review things like pop-ups and other intrusive advertising elements on your website. They tend to cause sudden bounces.
A 100% bounce rate in analytics: What can be done?
If you see a 100% bounce rate in Google Analytics, what can be done? Besides checking for technical issues, you can employ some common tactics to reduce your bounce rate.
- Work on your content
The reason why people don’t spend enough time browsing your website could be the quality of content. Content marketing is the key to any marketing strategy. By beefing up your content to address your target audience’s pain points, you are investing in their interest in your website.
- Improve your interlinking strategy
Perhaps your visitors are leaving the website because there aren’t any links to point them to other pages. To keep users’ interest longer, you should work out a solid interlinking strategy. If you have related valuable content to share, make sure you link to it on the landing pages.
Pay special attention to the link’s anchor. It should be sufficiently descriptive to help visitors understand where it’s leading.
- Beef up the CTAs
CTAs or Calls to Action are phrases that guide a visitor to take some action. Make sure your calls to action come with links that point visitors to other pages, such as “contact us” or “sign up for the newsletter.”
Even if you want the customer to call, don’t give them the phone number immediately. Direct them to the contact page, where they can find the number.
- Adjust the user experience
Poor user experience is one of the reasons why visitors leave pages immediately. It could be abusive colors, pop-up advertising, a non-intuitive interface, and much more. Take the time to evaluate the UX on your website.
- Is it easy to navigate?
- Are fonts easy to read?
- Are colors too bright?
Too many images, videos, and moving pictures can seem overwhelming to the visitor. Try to keep things simple, and make sure the website looks professional.
- Improve your keyword strategy
Make sure you are targeting the right keywords for your website. If a person types in a query and gets transferred to a website that doesn’t answer it, they are likely to leave immediately.
You need to work on the relevancy of the content you offer on your website. For example, if you are selling flowers in Los Angeles, make sure to capitalize on local keywords like “flower shops in LA.” The “flower shop” keyword could bring you too much unnecessary traffic from other cities and states.
- Add site search
To make it easier for people to find information on your website, add a site search. Visitors who didn’t find an answer to their question on the webpage could try to use the search to learn the necessary information.
Additionally, site search is an extremely useful option for repeat visitors like clients who came back to leave a review. The search can help them find the right products.
- Speed it up
More than 45% of people expect the webpage to load in under 2 seconds. If your site is too slow, don’t expect them to stay. Work on the speed issue carefully.
0% bounce rate: Good or bad?
If Google Analytics is showing a 0% bounce rate, should you be happy about it? Is a 0% bounce rate good? A low bounce rate is a good indication of your website’s operation. However, just like a 100% bounce rate, a 0% rate could mean technical issues. Or it could simply mean that you don’t get any website visitors at all.
It’s highly improbable that each visitor that comes to your website will visit other web pages as well. A 0% bounce rate is an indication of trouble and requires your immediate action.
Examples of a 0% bounce rate issues
The reason why your bounce rate is 0% could be:
- It’s impossible to arrive at the website via external links (duplicated tags, redirect problems, third-party plug-in interference with Google Analytics).
- Duplicated Google Analytics code – it could happen if you install two plugins or GA overlaps with Google Tag Manager.
- Any other third-party code interferes with the GA code.
- Viewing the content is only possible within the website.
A 0% bounce rate doesn’t occur often. While it seems like a nice result, the reasons behind it are less than appealing. As soon as you see a 0% bounce rate, start checking for technical issues.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bounce Rate
While the bounce rate isn’t a direct ranking factor, many website owners look at it to check if the website is working properly. Let’s look at questions that often arise.
Q: What is a 0% bounce rate?
A: A 0% rate means that none of your website visitors bounces. According to Google, it means that all visitors go to at least one other page of your website after arriving to the landing page from an outside source.
Q: How to get rid of a 0% percent bounce rate?
A: Check for technical issues with your website, such as duplicate GA code, third-party code interference, redirect problems, duplicate tags, and content viewing restrictions.
Q: Why is a 0% bounce rate not good?
A: A 0% bounce rate is an indication of a problem with your website. If your website is technically sound, it should have at least a 1% bounce rate. It’s impossible for all visitors to be clicking links on your landing pages.
Q: What is the reason my bounce rate is 0%?
A: Most likely, it’s a technical issue.
Q: Is a 100% bounce rate accurate on Google Analytics?
A: If your settings on GA are correct, the bounce rate is accurate. However, a 100% bounce rate doesn’t mean all of your visitors are bouncing. Just like a 0% bounce rate, it indicates technical issues with your website,
Q: Is a bounce rate of 100% good or bad?
A: A 100% bounce rate is bad because it points to technical problems with your website. You need to address them immediately.
100% and 0% bounce rate: The takeaway
Your website’s bounce rate is a good indication of how well you are working with your website. It’s also an important metric for your marketing efforts. However, the bounce rate isn’t a direct Google ranking factor. It’s also not always an accurate reflection of your website’s performance.
The bounce rate of your web pages doesn’t just depend on how good your content, UX, and structure are. It also depends on the purpose of your content and visitor intent.
Both 0% and 100% bounce rates point to technical issues with your website. When you see these figures in Google Analytics, it’s time to check for duplicate GA code and tags, content viewing restrictions, third-party code issues, and more.