SEO is a science, and a lot goes into ensuring your website not only ranks in searches, but ranks well. One factor that the search engines weigh heavily and that your digital marketing team should pay close attention to is your site’s bounce rate.
Understanding bounce rate
As a site owner, it is important to understand what bounce rate is and how it affects your search engine rankings. The bounce rate tells you how many of your site’s visitors are or are not engaging with your webpages’ content. It also gives you an idea of the type of user experience your site offers.
The search engines calculate bounce rate by assessing the number of times visitors stay on your page and/or the percentage of visitors who take a desired action (submitting an appointment request, making a phone call, etc.). Google uses bounce rates to determine the level of value your site offers. A low bounce rate, for instance, tells Google that your site offers considerable value and deserves a higher ranking. A high bounce rate, on the other hand, suggests that your site is spammy and underserving of ranking for specific queries.
High, average, and excellent bounce rates: How to assess your rates
Bounce rates generally fall into three categories: High, average, and excellent. Some SEOs will tell you there are two more categories, for the “exceptional” and “exceptionally bad,” but such rates — which hover around 1% and 90% respectively — are so rare that it makes little sense to focus on them. That said, check out what constitutes the good, the bad, and the ugly of bounce rates:
- High: A bounce rate between 56% and 70% is higher than normal but not quite bad. Once a bounce rate begins to exceed 70%, however, it can indicate that little on your site is working in terms of website design, function, and analytics. If your bounce rate is 90% or higher, it may be time for a website overhaul.
- Average: An average bounce rate falls somewhere between 41% to 55%. Though you should always strive to improve the user experience, an average rate indicates you are doing a lot right and that you do not need to make any drastic changes.
- Excellent: An excellent bounce rate is anything that falls between 26% and 40%. If you have an excellent bounce rate, keep doing what you are doing, as visitors are responding well to it.
You may wonder why an “Excellent” rating starts at 26%. Studies have found that when websites’ bounce rates fall below 26%, it usually is not because of effective digital marketing efforts but rather because something on the site is broken. If something is broken, you cannot accurately measure your site’s performance, which is almost worse than finding out you have a high bounce rate. You can at least work with a bad number; a fake number gives you no useful information.
Take steps to improve your bounce rate today
Whether your bounce rate is a solid 45%, an excellent 30%, or a concerning 75%, it is important that you actively try to improve or maintain your site’s performance on an ongoing basis. Get the help you need to do just that. Contact Doctor Genius to schedule your site assessment today.
Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.
