Bounce Rate: Definition, How it Works, Formulas and Influencing Factors
Bounce rate is a term that is often used in web traffic. Statistics related to the behavior of web visitors is even considered as one of the main factors that determine the level of effectiveness of a website. To get to know it further, especially its relation to website optimization, let's look at the following explanation.
Definition of bounce rate
The definition of bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who open a website and then leave without further interaction.
The intended interactions include clicking on links, filling out forms, or downloading images.
When these activities are not recorded in the website's analytics, the event will be counted as a bounce.
A high bounce rate is considered as an indication of an error on the website, therefore a lower bounce rate is considered better.
A high website bounce rate will not be able to attract visitors. In addition, websites with high bounce will have a low conversion rate.
Bounce rate is a statistic that is classified as a crucial factor and can influence SEO to generate organic traffic for search engines.
In general, the bounce rate provides several important indications on websites that need to be followed up, as follows:
- The percentage of bounce rate will affect the website's ranking on the Google search page.
- The bounce rate figure provides evidence of that assessment of website performance. The higher the bounce rate you get, the more improvements need to be made.
- The bounce rate figure is also a sign that there is no buying activity. For this reason, it is necessary to optimize the website so that the bounce rate percentage can decrease significantly.
Bounce Rate Type
You have understood what the bounce rate is and how to calculate it.
Well, said the Search Engine Journal, there are three ways to view and analyze the bounce rate. The three ways include:
- page level bounce rate, namely the number of bounces in one page, divided by the number of people who visited the page (often the term is session), in a certain period
- sitewide bounce rate, which is the number of bounces on all pages on a site, divided by the number of people who visited all pages, in a certain period.
- segmented bounce rate, namely the sitewide bounce rate, but not for all pages on the site, but only some
Calculation of Bounce Rate
The following is how to calculate the bounce rate:
- When the user opens the website, the tracking code (like in Google Analytics) embedded in the website starts recording the session.
- That tracking code then measures the time duration of the user's session. If a user leaves the website without any interaction within a certain time limit, this is considered a bounce.
- The tracking code monitors user interaction on web pages. If no interaction occurs and the user leaves the page, that will also be counted as a bounce.
- The bounce rate is then calculated by dividing the number of bounce sessions for one page by the total number of sessions and multiplying the result by 100. This calculation produces the percentage of visitors who bounce from the website.
- Bounce rate data is usually available in website analysis tools such as Google Analytics. With this tool, website owners and digital marketers can analyze bounce rates on various pages, traffic sources, and more. This data can then be used to develop the right strategy to reduce the bounce rate.
The formula for calculating the amount or percentage of this bounce is:
Bounce Rate formula:
The number of visitors who only open one page: the total number of website visitors x 100 percent.
Factors Affecting Bounce Rate Performance
The percentage of bounce rate is obtained from various aspects on the website, including internal and external factors. Below are several kinds of factors that affect the percentage of bounce rate along with tips so that the website can produce optimal performance.
1. Website Accessibility
Currently, the level of ease of accessing a website is assessed from the first seconds when a user opens a page. If in the first stage, users experience problems such as taking too long to load or a website that is difficult to refresh so that they experience bugs, they will automatically immediately give a bad impression.
Therefore, periodically check the level and ease of website accessibility and use reliable and guaranteed hosting services. Avoid using services that look cheap but cannot guarantee the quality they provide.
2. Website UI/UX
After a visitor clicks on a link and successfully enters the page, the first thing that will be seen and assessed is the overall appearance of the website. Starting from the placement of the text, the colors and fonts used, the quality of the logo to the images, to the overall appearance of the website. Below are some aspects of UI/UX that must be considered:
- Mobile Friendly - When designing a website, make sure the design used can adapt to various devices. Thus, the website can be accessed by users via laptops or cellphones easily and comfortably. A website that is not mobile friendly allows for a decrease in user desire and intensity to return to the website. This even increases the chances of a bounce rate occurring.
- Insert Images and Videos - Include a website with several kinds of high quality images and videos. The quality of the website can be judged by the quality of the images presented. Avoid using photos with poor quality, or themes that are irrelevant to the topic being discussed.
- Design Responsive Websites - Responsive website design can provide a better experience to visitors. This can be done in various ways, such as the convenience of zooming in - zooming out of images and text to automate the appearance of the website according to the type of gadget used. A responsive website can help minimize the percentage of bounce rate.
3. Quality of Presented Content
As one of the main goals of making a website, the quality of the content provided has a large and significant influence on the percentage of bounce rate that will be generated. For this reason, users need to design quality content by using various additional tricks so that the website can produce maximum performance.
Some things that can be optimized in compiling a blog, include:
- Write a clear and attractive title
- Use nested headings (H1, H2, H3)
- Write keywords at the beginning of the paragraph
- Link with internal and external links
- Add it with relevant images and videos
- Avoid writing mistakes (typos)
4. Avoid Excessive Pop-Ups
Pop-ups are a common strategy used by website owners to increase leads by offering promos or discounts by inviting users to register for an account. Pop-ups themselves usually appear in the form of small banners when we access the website.
However, this strategy is slowly becoming a debate because it is considered effective to use. With the appearance of pop-ups continuously, it turns out that it can interfere with the appearance of the website so that the concentration of users when visiting the website. Therefore, use the pop-up ads feature wisely, so that visitors can still feel comfortable when accessing the website.
5. Use “Open in New Tab”
Open in a new tab, is one of the tactics that can be done to increase the bounce rate while making it easier for users. With this method, users who are interested in viewing other content don't have to bother turning the page because they can access it automatically.