A common term in the world of SEO is bounce rate. The bounce rate is the percentage of bounced visits to your website. In other words, the percentage of users visiting a website then leave the site instead of continuing to view other pages in the website. For example, bounce rate is when a user goes to the home page and stays there for a couple minutes then leaves. Another example is when someone goes directly to a reference page within a site from a search engine, leaves the page open while using other pages within a web browser, and the session times out.

The Big Question

Many website owners are asking the question: What is a good bounce rate for a high ranking website? This is an important concern and it is a big deal for people looking to improve their websites. Although there is no such thing as a perfect bounce rate there are a few general statistics to determine the success of a website.

  • Excellent: 50% or less
  • Good: 60-80%
  • Fair: 70-80%
  • Poor: 80% or higher

Industry Examples

Bounce rate is difficult to measure success. A website may receive half a million hits per week and have a bounce rate of 80%. Websites revolving around entertainment, news, and sports are likely to have a lower bounce rate, while website that have a specific action like weather will have a higher bounce rate.

  • Retail Sites: 20-40%
  • Simple Landing Pages: 70-90%
  • Services or FAQ Sites: 10-30%
  • Content Websites: 40-60%
  • Lead Generation: 30-50%

Improving Bounce Rate

The Effects on Bounce Rate

  • Pop ups, surveys, video streaming
  • Pages ranking higher for irrelevant keywords
  • Audience type
  • Design of landing page
  • Ad and landing page messages
  • Emails and newsletters
  • Load time of page
  • Links to external sites
  • Purpose of Page

How to Improving Bounce Rate

  • Maintain high rankings for branded terms
  • Provide relevant content
  • Build clear navigation path
  • Link to glossary page
  • Use search function prominently
  • Speed up pageload
  • Get rid of pop-up ads
  • Minimize external links

Keep in Mind
Bounce rate is not something to worry about unless the percentage suddenly rises. This is a common occurrence if the website is redesigned.