What’s A Good Bounce Rate? (And Why Yours Might Be Inaccurate)

good-bounce-rate

I already discussed all the basics in my post Bounce Rate For Beginners, so go give it a quick read if you haven’t.

What is a good bounce rate?

It depends on a few factors.

The main is one is the type of website you have.

The infographic below is from QuickSprout, and gives us the average bounce rate for every type of website.

quicksprout-bounce-rate

You can see that the average for blogs is between 70% and 98%. Whoa! How do you compare to the average? I’ll give you my own numbers in a bit, but first, here’s how I see bounce rates for blogs:

A bounce rate of 50% or less is excellent.
From 50% to 60%, it’s good.
From 60% to 70%, it’s okay.
From 70% to 80%, it’s average.
Anything over 80% is high.

So basically, if you’re unhappy with your bounce rate, don’t freak out. A high number is perfectly normal. If you’re a part of the minority of bloggers that has a low bounce rate, feel free to pat yourself on the back because you’re doing something right.

My Bounce Rate

For reference, I can give you the numbers for my blog Cruelty-Free Kitty.

My bounce rate right now, according to Piwik, is typically in the high 60’s. For desktop users, it’s in the low 60’s. Considering my traffic (my site received about 245,000 pageviews these last 30 days), I’m happy with these numbers. Before I changed my theme, my bounce rate was in the low 70’s.

Super Low Bounce Rates

…are often (if not always) inaccurate.

There are some tweaks you can make in order to “reduce your bounce rate”. These tweaks make Google Analytics think that a longer visit on your site is not a bounce, even if the user doesn’t click any link.

Don’t do it!

Will it make your bounce rate drop? Sure! But you’re also shooting yourself in the foot, because that’s not your actual bounce rate. Remember: You want people to click your links. Time on site doesn’t matter if they don’t engage.

Oh, and make sure that you don’t have you Analytics code in twice! This mistake tricks Google into thinking one user looked at 2 pages instead of 1. It’s a common mistake that might show you a fake, very low bounce rate. If your bounce rate looks suspiciously low, that might be why.

Your Traffic Matters!

Your bounce rate is affected not only by the size of your traffic, but also by its source and quality.

For instance, the smaller your traffic and more targeted it is, the lower your bounce rate will be. This is something I’ve experienced first hand. As my traffic increased, so did my bounce rate.

The source of your traffic will also have a big impact. For me, Pinterest is a considerable traffic source, and it’s also the worst for bounce rate. A lot of Pinterest visitors click one post, read it, and head back to Pinterest — myself included, actually. This isn’t something you can really help, since those readers visit your site with no intention to explore it in the first place. I do my best to retain my reader’s interest, but I don’t sweat it, and you shouldn’t either.

What A Good Bounce Rate Really Is

A good bounce rate is a bounce rate that’s lower than it was. Meaning that as long as you’re actively working to lower your bounce and you’re seeing results, you’re fine, girl!

I’m constantly looking for ways to lower my bounce rate and improve the experience of anyone who ends up on my site. Because you have to consider your traffic, a good bounce rate is subjective. Your bounce rate is what it is, but you can set yourself goals to improve your site and lower it.