jfranktoo

Obviously it varies from site type to site type. I mean Amazon will get fewer bounces because the site is so well known and people are actually looking for it. But what about sites which are not known at all, and which are in very competitive market sectors and with many possible keywords for searches?

On my main site the bounce rate is over 50%. Time spent on my site by these bouncers is less than 10 seconds. It is not what they are looking for. In a recent post Bagi said something very interesting which might relate to this topic, and I wonder if it could be expanded further.

BAGI "I'm convinced that google algo measures the relevance of the different listed websites by studying the user's behaviour. I mean if you're not satisfied with one result you are supposed to go back to the ranking page and select another webpage, which is a really nice feedback for google, and the algo has the opportunity to correct the relevance of the left webpage for that certain keyphrase. The browsing time at the result page before you arrive back to the previously visited ranking page can be one more feedback factor"

Does Google drop the sites with high bounce rates for particular search terms down the rankings for those terms? It seems logical.

John

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NavyCS

I think there other things to consider; High bounce rate - High click thru rate on paid ads is good. How many of your visitors are adding the site to their favorites? Are you meeting the expectations of the keywords and phrases you selected for optimization? The search result may have been just what they were looking for, got the answer, bookmarked it then left to find more data. My single most profitable page has a 76.5% bounce rate and 73% exit but my click thru rate is very good The visitors average 1:47 on the page was visited 8600 times over the last 30 days.

Content and content placement is important. Look at the search terms used, most are more than likely a longtail search (3-4 words) which you can form a question in your mind - did your page answer it? Can the visitor see the information when they arrive to the page or do they have to scroll or look thru a lot of other things to see it?

I recommend using hittail.com, put the code on your pages - it will show you real time searchers phrases they used and the SE or link they came in from. It allows you to click the link to actually see the referring page (be it the search results or webpage with your link). I find it good information that I start getting phrases clicked on from page 2, it gives me some new phrases to use when placing anchor text in future backlinks and also allows me to do further optimization on-page with phrases people are actually searching for I wasn't smart enough to come up with.

Without having Google Analytics on your site (or anyother Google product for that matter) how does google know who came and how long they stayed? Even if you used Google search to get there?

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look4edmund

What have Bounce Rates got to do with SEO. Keke. ;-)



Regards,
Edmund Ng

jfranktoo

That's what I'm asking. Is it possible that Google prefers sites that a a bit sticky for a particular search term, than those which bounce quickly. If I was Lady Google I would prefer sites where people hang around for a bit, rather than those they say "not for me, I'm off"

I'm not saying she does, I'm just asking.

John

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Scotland last minute short breaks and special deals, self catering cottages

Self catering cottage in Appin by Glencoe Scotland

NavyCS

SEO/SEM.

Understanding bounce rates and how to interpret them can go a long way in assisting you in the optimization of the page.

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