[Explain] Bounce Rate : Definition, Methods to Reduce Bounce Rate on Website

In this article i am going to explain what Bounce Rate means, impact on Bounce rate on Website, methods to reduce Bounce etc.

Bounce Rate : Definition

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Bounce rate is the percentage of visits that go only one page before exiting a site [1]. There can be many factors that depends bounce rate of your website. Some of them are less attractive home page, popup on landing of home page and etc. [1] lists down some of common factors which depends bounce rate of any website. Those factors are listed down as follows:

Single page site
Incorrect implementation
Site design
User behavior

Bounce Rate can be calculated using the formula[2] shown in the figure below, where Rb is the Bounce Rate, Tv is Total number of visitors viewing one page only and Te is Total entries to page.

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Ways in which user can bounce from website

In [2] various ways are explained in which a visitor may bounce. Some of those factors are listed below:

Clicking on link which takes visitor to other website
Closing window or tab
Visiting new website by entering URL in same window or tab
Clicking the “Back” button to leave the site
Session timeout

Impact of Bounce Rate on Website Performance

In [3] impact of both low and high bounce rate on website are defined. According to [3] low bounce rate is considered to be good for website because it means that user finds your website interested and found what he wants on your web page. Whereas high bounce rate can be good or bad. High bounce rate is good meaning that exact answer is found for visitor query and he doesn’t want to interact any further. It can be bad meaning that your website doesn’t contain the necessary information to keep visitor on your website.

How to Reduce Bounce Rate

There are various methods explained by different authors to reduce the bounce rate of the website. Some of the methods are common that are defined by authors of various blogs. First and most effective method is to have usable and informative content on your web page. In [4] website page loading time is also considered as one of the factor which leads to high bounce rate, so it is good practice to keep your web page loading time as low as possible. Don’t use heavy images, videos that takes lot of time to load. Authors in [5] have taken into account the mining part of the visitors web usage behavior. They have considered metric like click patterns to tweak web page layout to reduce the bounce rate. Advertise are the main source of income for any blogger, website owner but misplacement of ad units can lead to high bounce rate. This particular factor of ad unit placement has been covered in [6] by the author. In the following section I have compiled some of the methods proposed to lower down the bounce rate by various authors.

Good and Interactive Website Layout
Use of videos to lure customers
Place Ad Units In proper place
Check website loading time
Don’t use unnecessary links going out of your website
Don’t use Pop up like Facebook like Box, Ad Units in popup etc. they all distract the users and they don’t like it.

Conclusion

Follow the methods described above and try to bring down the bounce rate of your website. It is always beneficial to your website rankings as well is visitors like to stay on your website for longer time.