Low Bounce Rate in Google Analytics + What is Good

Do you have a really low Google Analytics bounce rate? One of the most common mistakes and why you may have a really low bounce rate is because your Google Analytics tracking CODE IS DUPLICATED!

Before I start explaining how to fix a low bounce rate in Google Analytics (GA), I should probably explain what a bounce rate is:

A bounce rate is the percentage of initial visitors coming to your site who “bounce” away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within your site. A bounce occurs when a visitor only views a single page on your site before a specified session-timeout occurs.

Most Common Low Bounce Rate Mistake: Google Analytics tracking code is duplicated.

Maybe someone accidentally pasted your Google Analytics code twice, or more likely, you have two plugins that are using the same UA ID tracking number – which means you have duplicated the tracking code.

For example: you can’t have the ‘Better Analytics’ plugin and ‘Google Analytics Dashboard for WP’ plugin both active on your wordpress site because both of these plugins require your GA tracking code and therefore, your code is duplicated.

If you do have two plugins using your Google Analytics tracking code, keep one and delete the other. Note: On deciding which one to keep, first check to see which plugin is compatible with your latest WordPress update – keep the one that is compatible.

Not sure if your code is duplicated?

There’s a great Google Chrome extension called ‘Google Tag Assistant’ that will help you find this mistake and/or other mistakes on your site.

Here’s what I would do:

1. Install Google Chrome (if you don’t currently have it).
2. Install Google Tag Assistant free (found here at the bottom of the page).
3. In Google Chrome, type in your website url.
4. Click on the Google Tag Assistant icon in the upper right hand corner, then click on the ENABLE button.
5. Refresh (aka reload) your screen.
6. Now you will see if you have any issues (like Google Analytics tracking code duplicated) on your site.
7. Fix any issues.

Other Low Bounce Rate Mistakes? Here’s a great post by Luna Metrics that runs through other possible mistakes that could be causing a really low bounce rate.

BONUS…

Since I know you’ll ask “What is an acceptable bounce rate?” Here’s a quick guideline:

AMAZING: 1%-24%. This is roughly less than 5% of the sites out there. If you have metrics this good you are definitely doing something right!

REALLY GOOD: 25%-29%. If your bounce rate falls in this range, you are doing very well.

GOOD: 30%-40%. This is still a good range.

AVERAGE: 40%-55%. Most sites fall into this bounce rate range.

BAD: 56%-80%. This can be improved by introducing A/B and split testing for site improvement.

AWFUL: 81%-100%. If your bounce rate is this poor, it’s time to rethink your online strategy. Note: It’s very rare to have a site that performs this badly, unless you’re strictly an informational site.

Low/Good bounce rates indicate that visitor engagement on your site is good. High/Bad ratings typically mean that you should make improvements to your site. TWO THINGS TO NOTE: A blog will tend to have a higher bounce rate. And as your Pinterest traffic increases, a higher bounce rate percentage can occur.

In a nutshell: A high bounce rate indicates that your websites entry page (homepage and/or landing page) is not speaking to your audience properly. If you have some distracting elements on your site (like a bunch of annoying ads or slow image download times), I’d clean things up – these can be the cause of high bounce rates.

Now that you know how to solve a low bounce rate in Google Analytics + what is good and acceptable, go see what your bounce rate is… and if you need to fix it, fix it!