High Bounce Rate in Google Analytics: Analysis and Causes

Google Analytics is an important tool in the work of every SEO. Tracking and working on the bounce rate is an integral and important part of their work. On the one hand, it may seem that the bounce rate is an obvious metric and there is nothing complicated about it. But! If we start to analyze each failure in detail, it turns out that this metric is quite relative.

The concept of bounce rate

Let's start with terminology. Bounce Rate or bounce rate - the ratio of the number of bounces to the number of visits. Where a visit to no more than one page is accepted as a refusal. Technically, a failure in Google Analytics is recorded by the system if no other actions were taken apart from visiting one page. The relativity of this metric is that you can perform actions on the site without going from page to page (go from the search engine to the contact page to view the phone and call, or visit the main page for the same purposes). That is, the target action can be completed, but Google Analytics will record it as a failure.

What actions can be recorded as failure?

Here are some examples:

• As mentioned above, the user can go from the search engine to the contact page or to the main one for the phone number. Make a call and place an order.
• The user searches for a product on the site, finds it and does not fill out the order form, but places an order by phone, after which he leaves the product page.
• The visitor came to the site and read the article. I liked everything, but there was no time for further study of the pages. He bookmarks the resource and leaves, so that later, when he has more free time, he can study the site in detail.
• I went to the site and put a "like" on the group in social networks.
• Left the site after watching the video.

Other reasons for failures

These include errors on the part of optimizers: flaws in usability, a large number of distractions (ads, pop-ups, etc.). All annoying elements may well cause a refusal.

What number of failures can be considered the norm?

When you see a bounce rate above 50%, don't rush to panic. The value of the indicator depends on the direction of your company. Depending on the site, the following approximate indicators can be noted:

• Landing page – 70-90%.
• Landing or one-page sites - 90% and above.
• Online store - 20-40%.
• Sites with a lot of content, well visible in search results - 40-60%.
• Reference sites, services - 10-30%.
• Lead generators - 30-50%.

Of course, these figures should not be taken as the ultimate truth. Some additional factors need to be analyzed.

To do this, go to Google Analytics, select "Behavior", then "Site Content" and "All Pages".

Here you can analyze bounces for each page. By highlighting the pages with high and low bounce rates, it will be possible to understand the reason for the worst traffic. View the "rejected" pages. Perhaps there are randomly placed elements, a confusing interface, or other flaws that affect the increase in bounce rate.

It is also important to pay attention to the time spent by the visitor on the page for a specific request. If the time spent is above average, then the visitor may have found what he was looking for. In this case, the number is not critical.

As you can see from the approximate bounce rates, 90% is the norm for single page sites. Can this number be reduced? Yes. You need to set up event tracking: watching videos, scrolling a page, filling out an order form, downloading, etc. Then it will be possible to objectively evaluate what is happening on the site.

Reasons for high figures in the indicator

Consider several reasons for influencing the behavioral factor:

1. Bad download speed . I think it's no secret that the user does not like to wait a long time for the site to load. The optimal time is 3-4 seconds.
2. Irrelevant design . No matter how interesting content your site is filled with , they will meet it “by clothes”. Therefore, make sure that there are no blinking banners, annoyingly blinking animations, bright colors, etc.
3. Lack of an adaptive version . The amount of mobile traffic is growing every day. It would be foolish to ignore this fact. If the page is inconvenient to view on a mobile device, then the bounce rate will tend to the top number.
4. There is no clear call to action . If a visitor came to your site, then most likely for some specific purpose. Don't let him go without understanding what he should do next with his desire to buy something. Place call-to-action buttons in prominent places.
5. Lots of ads . Imagine yourself in the place of the client. Coming to the site to buy a TV, you don’t want to get annoyed about annoying advertising for weight loss products or buying an apartment (in addition to a TV). Take care of visitors, save them from unnecessary and, moreover, non-thematic advertising.
6. Pop-up windows . This type of advertising does not always play in favor of the conversion. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Alternatively, you can show pop-ups to those who have been on the site for some time.
7. Keyword mismatch . One of the optimization rules is to move on requests that correspond to the theme of the site. The user will come in and, having not found the necessary information, will continue the search, but on another site.

All of the above, of course, is not a cure for all diseases. You need to constantly work on the resource, monitor performance, test and improve. And, of course, do not forget to analyze the bounce rate.