Bounce Rate

1. 69

   lisabeamanposted 13 years ago

   I'm sure I've read somewhere what the bounce rate is, but I can't find it. Can someone help me out... I have no idea if the % I have is good or bad. Thanks!

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2. 68

   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   A "bounce" is a person that comes to a website, views one page and leaves. A place like HP would have a higher bounce rate than normal because the hubs are all over the place topic-wise. If you had a focused blog or website, you would want the bounce rate to be low, at least less than 25%.

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   1. 69

      lisabeamanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Okay... so then for my hubs is a bounce rate of 68% bad? What can I do to improve it?

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      1. 70

         sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         bounce rate is completely irrelavnt at hubpages - its a sitewide metric, and as unix points out often a high bounce rate is because you gave the searcher what they were looking for.
         
         HP's practice of related forums, hubs and questions showing in the sidebar prob contributes to their ability to keep visitors on site -- but detracts from your ability to keep visitors on YOUR pages
         
         - when you are using advertising for revenue - the bounce rate becomes even less applicable , since your wallet wants them to leave

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         1. 69

            lisabeamanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks! I won't worry about that then. Thanks!

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         2. 90

            Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Just to be pedantic and avoid confusing the newbies:
            
            Bounce rate is important to HP itself, just not to individual hubbers.  If you have your own website or blog, the bounce rate figures there would be important to you.
            
            But, for all the reasons pointed out here, a high bounce rate can mean visitors left to go implement whatever answer or idea you gave them or it could mean they clicked on an ad.
            
            What do you think an extremely low bounce rate would mean?
            
            It could mean that people are fascinated with you and want to read everything you wrote.
            
            It could also mean people are copying everything you wrote with an eye toward using it themselves somewhere else :-)
            
            I sometimes see activity like that in my log: thousands of quick page accesses byt the same ip.  Sometimes that's a search engine refreshing itself, but sometimes it isn't.  In that case, I expect to find a new website who has stolen my pages (and usually from other places too).     What you do about that is covered in many places; search for "DMCA" here to get started.

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      2. 68

         lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         A 68% bounce rate on a private blog or website would be bad IMO, but not here at HP. I think my bounce rate here is over 90%, and I'm perfectly fine with that. Hopefully those people have read my hub and clicked on an ad, thereby leaving the site and making me money.
         
         But even if they don't, if someone is looking to buy, for instance, an iPhone and they read a hub I have about iPhones, I wouldn't expect them to surf my stuff to read about travel through Maine or immersion blendrs. Like PCUnix said, it's all about each individual page. Does it lend itself to surfing or does it answer a specific question? Do you have other hubs related to the subject, or is it a one-off hub?
         
         I look at bounce rate carefully with my blogs, but pretty much ignore it here on HP.
         
         EDITED TO ADD: What a good bounce rate is on blogs/websites really depends on the type of blog/website it is. You might want a lower bounce rate on blogs/sites where you are trying to build a following, and it may be irrelevant for other sites.

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         1. 69

            lisabeamanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks! I appreciate the expertise! I'm still trying to figure all of this out. I think I'll stop looking at the stats for a while and concentrate on writing. Numbers really stress me out!

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3. 68

   Kyrianaposted 13 years ago

   google analytics shows it on the kind of summary page when you first go in.. I don't really know what a good rate should be

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4. 93

   habeeposted 13 years ago

   Thanks, Irohner! I was wondering, too.

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5. 90

   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   Actually, it varies with the page.
   
   Consider a tech page that answers a specific problem.  A searcher has this problem, asks Google, and finds your page.  It tells them how to fix their problem.
   
   What do they do next?  Read more of your site or go fix their problem?
   
   Such a page is likely to have a very high bounce rate and that is fine.

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   1. 69

      lisabeamanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Pcunix! I think you are way too smart for me! This stuff is way over my head... It seems like the more I learn, the more I find that I don't know. I appreciate your help!

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      1. 90

         Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It seems to me that Analytics has a help link that at least tries to explain everything.  However, they aren't going to tell you the kinds of answers you get here that explain the real life implications.
         
         However.. You also have to be careful.  I often forget that I may be answering a question that is focused here at HP, so my answer may be more generic.  Someone who only writes here may make the opposite mistake when you actually wanted a more generic answer.
         
         So, never hesitate to press for details.

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6. 0

   girly_girl09posted 13 years ago

   My bounce rate is around 50% for my personal blog but it's getting lower and lower as I add more content! My HP bounce rate is around 83%. I'm still making decent revenues, it just depends on your content and what types of relevant ads are displayed.

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7. 69

   Peter Hogganposted 13 years ago

   
   
   Perhaps a 100% bounce rate might be the ideal goal in this situation, as long as they are all bouncing the right way.

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   1. 77

      sofsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't know that we had to be aware of so many things thanx everyone for explaining all this!!

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