Does Bounce rate really matter?
- Thread starter YujinTan
- Start date
Well I'm not an expert too, but that is just a bad example.
Imagine you are ranking #1 with your weather website, and I'm ranking #2
Visitor clicks on your link, doesn't get what he wants or doesn't like it and bouces back to search results.
Then he goes to my website - gets what he was searching for and ENDS the search.
Sooner or later, in my humble opinion, my website will push you off #1 spot
LinksForPros
Power Member
- Nov 9, 2017
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LinksForPros
Power Member
- Nov 9, 2017
- 551
- 490
You are describing pogosticking and it works just as you described and I linked to sources https://conversionxl.com/guides/bounce-rate/seo-impact/.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080275882
If users click on many other links after visiting your webpage AND you have a high bounce rate, Google’s algorithm concludes you are causing users to pogo-stick. Your ranking is then negatively affected as you are leaving your users unsatisfied due to ranking for irrelevant keywords, using confusing webpage design, or providing inadequate amounts of content.
Aty
Elite Member
- Jan 27, 2011
- 7,631
- 5,301
If it's high, your rankings drop. As simple as that.
Zbigniew
Senior Member
- Mar 10, 2017
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I think its value is very low. What's more important, as described by others, is pogo. If someone comes to your site, quickly goes back and choose another result.
Bounce rate is not a good measurement in this context.
If the user wants to find "The best fishing rod" and comes to your website. He reads your article, gets the answer and then exit the browser. It will result in a high bounce rate for you. But the user got what he needed.
I am certain that Google understands this, thus the metric is not important. I don't remember where I read it, but I think Matt Cutts said that it's not important.
Bounce rate is extremely overhyped in the SEO community, imo.
Bounce rate is not a good measurement in this context.
If the user wants to find "The best fishing rod" and comes to your website. He reads your article, gets the answer and then exit the browser. It will result in a high bounce rate for you. But the user got what he needed.
I am certain that Google understands this, thus the metric is not important. I don't remember where I read it, but I think Matt Cutts said that it's not important.
Bounce rate is extremely overhyped in the SEO community, imo.
Aty
Elite Member
- Jan 27, 2011
- 7,631
- 5,301
Well, then the theory is wrong.
LinksForPros
Power Member
- Nov 9, 2017
- 551
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Yes, your theory was over simplified,
basically you were saying that Bounce Rate is a ranking factor, which it isn't. And if we know this for sure, it's not because
which he did, 3720 Days ago on http://sphinn.com/story/93908#61138, as did Gary Illyes in more recent days https://twitter.com/methode/status/849349565329412099 and others there,
but because it's impossible to make it a ranking factor on it's own without seriously damaging the quality of the results.
That being said, bounce rate's one to keep an eye on, not to optimize for but to optimize your site for the best (intended) user experience and behavior.