The Most Important Web Site Statistic

What is it?

Your bounce rate.  Here's why it 's important.

Bounce rate is insightful because from the perspective of a website visitor, it measures this phenomenon: "I came; I puked; I left." (OK, technically it also means the number of sessions with just one pageview.)

(read the rest of Stop bouncing: tips for website success at The Official Google Blog)

The beauty is that Google Analytics (free, remember?) offers this statistic right on its dashboard for your winery Web site.  You are using Google Analytics (or some other stats package), right?

Here's how to use this statistic to improve your Web site:

1. Identify your top "entry page," i.e. the first page that most visitors to your site see.  Hint: this may not be your home page.
2. Look at the bounce rate for that page.  A bounce rate of 75 percent means that 3 out of 4 visitors took one look at the page and left.  As a target, you want this page to have the lowest bounce rate of any page on your site. 
3. Look at the source of traffic for that page: 1)  typed directly into the browser address bar, 2) referred from another site, or 3) referred from a search engine.  If they came from a search engine, look at the search term.  If they came from another site, look at the referring page (no, I mean actually look at it.  In particular, what words are used to link to your page).  What does that tell you about their reason for clicking through to your page?
4. The hard part: based on what you know about how people are getting there, generate 2 or 3 theories about why visitors leave.  Consider that you may not be addressing their need in visiting the page.
5. Based on one of your theories, change the page (copy, layout, emphasis, ...).  
6. See what happens to the bounce rate for that page over the next month (with enough traffic to the page, this might be the next week, or the next day).
7. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

  I'd love to tell you there's a quicker way to improve your bounce rate, but that's the basic process.  You can speed it up a bit by using Google Web Site Optimizer (also free), which allows you to perform step 5 more easily.

Bottom line: identify your top "entry page" and lower its bounce rate.

Comments

[Robert]

Of course, if you have a blog, then you will always have a high bounce rate, at least for regular readers, as they are only coming to read the latest post, and hopefully following one of the links you included in that post.

[Masters]

wonder if there is somewhere that you can go to see the traffic for a winery website.

Or if people would participate in giving those details.. I don't see the need for the name of a winery, but it would be kinda neat to see ... # cases, price avg, web trafic, Bounce %, general location.. Mostly the small/med winery businesses..

Where could it be put anon if needed, Or is that coveted info..
JM

[Jason Reed]

Well, I have to disagree. The bounce rate is important, don't get me wrong- but it all boils down to conversions.

If you have a low bounce rate but no conversions, you're still doing it wrong.

Besides, all it takes is getting to the front page of Digg just once and you'll see your bounce rate skewed so dramatically as to render it useless.

[Age]

You might want to try out http://www.pagealizer.com their bounce rate analytics is great

[Jeff Paul Internet Millions]

Now this is very interesting, impressive and never thought of. In simple words well done for providing creative information.

[Ron Weber]

anyone know what a typical bounce rate is for a wine site?