Of all the analytic metrics out there, one of the ones I get asked the most is “What is a bounce rate?”. This metric is one of the most confusing and often-times misleading numbers on your entire SEO report.
How do you calculate bounce rate?
Bounce-rate is the percentage of visitors to your website who only viewed 1 page. If someone finds your website via a search engine, clicks on it, goes to the site, views your page, then goes off to another site, that is registered as a bounce.
Is a high bounce rate good?
That depends on the function of your website. If you have a news site with tons of content, blogs, articles and pages, a high bounce rate is bad. It means you are not getting your message across, or people are having trouble finding what they need at first glance. If you have a service oriented website where the main goal is to generate a phone call or send a message, a high percentage is not bad. Someone could be needing an HVAC contractor and as soon as they see the phone number, they call and schedule an appointment. In this scenario, the website did its main job, but your bounce rate is directly affected by it.
