Have you ever wondered what the difference between bounce rate and exit rate was?
In this article, we’re making an essential comparison: bounce rate vs. exit rate.
We’re covering what bounce rate is, why bounces happen, the bounce rate formula, what exit rate is, why exits happen, the exit formula, and the key takeaways to wrap this up.
Let’s dig in.
What is Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate is when a user enters a website but then immediately exits the web page.
A user can bounce in a number of ways, they can close the browser window, they can type another URL, and they can click the back button.
The more bounces the higher the bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of single engagement sessions.
By dividing the number of bounces by the total number of pageviews for a page, the bounce rate is calculated.
Any time a user enters a page and leaves it without visiting another one on the website or engaging with any of its elements is known as bouncing.
Bounce Rate Scenario
Numerous factors may be at play in bounce rate percentages. Below are two scenarios—one positive, and one negative.
Keep in mind that visitors will be accessing your website from various stages in the sales funnel.
Some people may be searching for one specific piece of information at the top of the funnel before clicking away.
When a person arrives at your website and finds what they’re seeking within a few seconds, it actually indicates that your website is in line with what they were looking for.
Contrast this with a customer that is farther down the sales funnel. They go to a product page on your website and want to buy, but they can’t locate a purchase link.
As a result, you miss out on a sale as they leave for another website. These situations show the value of examining bounce rates on a page-by-page basis.
Bounce Rate Formula
It is determined by dividing the total number of site visits by the sum of all single-page visits.
Bounce Rate = (Total single-page visits / Total site visits) x 100
Example: A website received 10,000 visits in a single month. However, 8,000 of those users only perused one page. This month, there will be an 80% bounce rate.
What is Exit Rate?
The exit rate is when a user enters a website, browses a few pages, and then exits.
Exit rate examines the number of visitors who leave your website after arriving at a page and contrasts it with the overall volume of views the page received.
In contrast to bounce rate, which is the percentage of visits that were the only ones during the session, exit rate is the percentage of visits that were the final ones.
Because users may have arrived at the page from another location on the website, a high exit rate does not always indicate a high bounce rate.
A low bounce rate does not necessarily translate to a low exit rate, as bounce rates only take into account departures that happen after the user lands on the first page.
Exit Rate Scenario
A distinct mindset is necessary for departure rate analysis. According to the Google Analytics goals you’ve established, you want to observe high exit rates on particular pages.
In general, your website will be making progress toward its goals if users are leaving the pages that are connected to those goals.
For instance, your checkout or sign-up pages should be your most recently visited pages if you operate an e-commerce website.
Other websites may have alternative objectives, such as getting visitors to download free software or eBooks in exchange for ad clicks or social media shares.
Depending on their purpose for visiting and where they are in the sales funnel, users will leave non-checkout or sign-up pages for a variety of reasons.
Exit Rate Formula
By counting the number of pages viewed during a visit, the exit rate is determined. Therefore, if a user views two pages during their visit, only one exit is recorded.
The following steps must be taken in order to determine your exit rate:
Percent Exit Rate = Total Exit From Page / Total Visits To Page.
If this percentage is large, or even 100%, it will be clear that a particular page is where the majority of people are abandoning your website.
What's Important to Know from this?
Neither is better than the other, they are both equally important depending on your use case.
A high exit rate typically indicates issues with your conversion funnel, but a high bounce rate typically indicates issues with customer happiness – whether it be in the context of the content, site quality, loading speed, etc.
As a result, depending on the issue you’re trying to solve, you should decide which measure to optimize for. When examining the visitor experience and funnel of your website, it makes sense to prioritize exit rate over bounce rate.
Exit rate takes into account all exits, as opposed to bounce rate, which simply captures user loss when users arrive at that page directly.
The significance of this distinction are made clearer by the scenario that follows.
How do you Reduce Exit Rate?
Research the reasons behind the departures first. You can start by making changes and including eye-catching graphics or motivational writing. If you own an online store, your exit pages need to be optimized.
Use links to connect products, directing customers to different sections of the store.
The goal is to lead them down a funnel that will ultimately result in a sale.
Give your customers a cause to stay at all times. The technical tools that enable people to see what you have to offer come along with that.
Creating an environment that encourages exploration rather than flight will do wonders for your company.
By dividing the number of bounces by the total number of pageviews for a page, the bounce rate is calculated.
Any time a user enters a page and leaves it without visiting another one on the website or engaging with any of its elements is known as bouncing.
This goes beyond merely correcting website design or navigational faults. Instead, you might want to think about going over your conversion funnel again.
For instance, it is well knowledge that eCommerce confirmation pages have high exit rates, but are these exit rates necessary? Obviously not.
There is constantly room for development. To move a customer further down the sales funnel, you may, for instance, link to related products that they might find interesting.
Last Words
Ultimately, the context of your analysis and your optimization objectives will determine the metric you employ.
Bounce rate and departure rate should only be used as a warning sign that something is wrong with your website, not as the norm.
Prior to acting, you must constantly consider a variety of different factors.
Think of them both as a light bulb that comes on when the contentment of your users is in doubt.
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