Some tips on using google analytics for bounce rate.

I read the below from a google blog:

Bounce rate is insightful because from the perspective of a website visitor, it measures this phenomenon: "I came; I puked; I left." While metrics like visitors show the number of people who came to your site, bounce rate will tell you how many of those people were unimpressed and left your site without taking any action (not even dignifying the site with a single click!).

Bounce rate has these attributes:
1) It is really hard to misunderstand. It measures the number of people who landed on your site and refused to give you even one single click!
2) It is available in most web analytics tools, including Google Analytics.
3) It is quick and easy to use. Bounce rate will help you understand where and how to make changes on your website in under an hour.

I think it is a really useful way of measuring how popular a website is.....

 

Great info...thanks!

 

Thanks for the information. It makes this option very clear now as I was in confused state about it earlier. Much appreciated and reps given.

 

Thank you! Nice post

 

That's a nice simple and short post . Can anybody tell what is the ideal bounce rate ?

 

It is very helpful but I have same question in my mind as xtremevicky709: What is maximum tolerable bounce rate?

 

From what I've been told, it depends on what kind of site you have. For blogs, I've been told under 50% is pretty good. I've been getting anywhere from 10-20%

 

Then it is good as many bounce rate is really bouncy . :|

 

For blogs, it is 50%. For forums? Other sites like Niche sites?

 

Thanks for the info, I even didn't knew what bounce rate is exactly. I guess I have to improve my site since I have a hight bounce rate...

 

Bounce rate is more important to commerce/affiliate/landing page sites than a normal website or blog.

If a search engine sends someone to a page that has all the information they were looking for, then there is no need for that person to stay on that site.

To say a high bounce rate is bad for "every" site, is wrong and I am surprised Google let that blog post through without clarification, as it could create confusion for a lot of webmasters.

Written by the same author.

"There are two exceptions:
1) You have a one page website
2) Your offline value proposition is so compelling that people would see just one single webpage and get all the information they need and leave.


There is one obvious case where bounce rate might not cough up as many insights. I am thinking of blogs.

They are a unique beast amongst online experiences: people come mostly only to read your latest post, they’ll read it and then they’ll leave. Your bounce rates will be high because of how that metric is computed, and in this scenario that is ok."

BTW: here is the Google blog the OP referred to.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/stop-bouncing-tips-for-website-success.html

Cheers
James

 

James - thanks for the blog link - Im off for a read