High Bounce Rate in Google Analytics: Possible Causes and What to Pay Attention To

What is the Bounce Rate in Google Analytics?

The bounce rate is the percentage of users who leave the site after viewing no more than one page. The higher this rate, the worse it is for your online business. To reduce the bounce rate, you need to identify and eliminate the causes of its increase. But first, it's important to understand what bounce rate is considered normal for your website.

What Bounce Rate is Considered Normal?

In general, a bounce rate between 45% and 65% is considered normal. It varies by industry. For example, e-commerce sites typically have lower bounce rates than informational resources. The average bounce rate for commercial projects is between 20% and 40%, while for informational sites, it’s 45% to 65%.

When a High Bounce Rate is Acceptable

• The user finds the information they need on a single page;
• High product cost;
• Viral content.

However, it’s important to understand that there's no limit to improvement, and any bounce rate needs attention until you’re sure all "weak points" have been addressed.

Common Reasons for a High Bounce Rate on a Website

Technical issues: Slow loading times, confusing site navigation, broken links from search results, etc.

Site not optimized for mobile: More than 60% of traffic comes from mobile devices, so the mobile version of your site must be perfectly optimized for display on any device, as well as for user experience.

Poor marketing: Either the wrong audience is landing on your site, or the target audience is correct but they are sent to an unsuitable landing page.

Incomplete product details: Poor descriptions, low-quality images, or overpriced products that don't appeal to consumers.

How to Reduce the Bounce Rate on a Website

Let’s look at the main ways to reduce the bounce rate and examine the causes of an inflated bounce rate.

Slow Website Loading – How to Diagnose and Fix the Issue:

The easiest way is to open the site on your PC and mobile device (preferably connected to mobile data, not Wi-Fi) and evaluate the site's loading speed. In critical cases, you’ll notice the problem immediately.

The most accurate method is to measure the site's loading speed using the browser console or specialized tools like PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, Pingdom, WebPageTest, etc.

What Speed Should You Aim For? What’s Considered Normal?

The optimal page loading time is 2-3 seconds. However, for highly loaded web applications, the ideal speed may vary. In such cases, it’s best to benchmark against competitors by measuring the average load time of their websites and aiming for similar results.

If you find that your site's loading speed is suboptimal, explore how to increase the page load speed of your web resource. Keep in mind that technical optimization often requires specialized programming knowledge, so if you lack these skills, it’s best to leave the task to professionals.

Problems with SSL Certificates

One of the reasons for a sudden increase in the website's bounce rate is the expiration of the SSL certificate. In this case, users see an alarming message indicating that the site is suspicious, and the browser advises against visiting it. Therefore, we recommend keeping track of your SSL certificate's expiration date (SSL certificates switch your site to the secure HTTPS protocol), as well as the registration periods of your domain name and hosting.

Unlike hosting and domain names, SSL certificates do not renew automatically and require installing a new one. The cost of an SSL certificate ranges from $7 per year and up. Some hosting providers offer free SSL certificates and also renew them automatically, saving you from this hassle. We will discuss the types of SSL certificates and how to choose one in a separate article.

Mixed Content and How to Fix Mixed Content Errors

Mixed content refers to HTTPS pages that contain both secure and non-secure elements. These are pages with an SSL certificate (indicated by the "S" in HTTPS, where "S" stands for "security") that link to standard HTTP pages, which lack security protocols. This is considered an insecure connection, and content that runs on scripts may display incorrectly, leading to user loss.

To avoid this, ensure your site functions properly across all browsers. You can fix the issue by standardizing all links using a plugin, built-in admin panel tool, or by manually editing the links.

Why is Mixed Content Dangerous?

Does mixed content affect user behavior and increase the bounce rate? The answer is yes: unsecured content has a significant negative impact.

Firstly, users are notified about the presence of unsafe resources on the page, which often prompts them to leave the site. The bounce rate, a behavioral ranking factor, increases, and this leads to your site being demoted in organic search results. Secondly, Google views the absence of the HTTPS protocol on a page or its content as a negative signal, which also causes ranking drops. Therefore, mixed content should be removed immediately, as it harms both conversions and the website's ranking.

404 Errors Negatively Impact User Experience

It’s crucial to prevent 404 errors because users encountering this error are likely to close the page. Here's what you should do:

• Fix broken links leading to non-existent pages;
• Check links when renaming pages;
• Use up-to-date versions of CMS, plugins, and modules.

To avoid losing users, customize your 404 page to match your site's design, explain the problem, and offer suggestions for what to do next.

Mobile Version and Responsiveness: How They Affect the Bounce Rate

A mobile version and responsive design are two different concepts, which we’ll discuss in a separate article. However, it's essential to understand that both exist to improve the user experience on mobile devices. Your site should look equally good on laptops, tablets, and smartphones, especially since over 60% of users access websites from smartphones.

The site’s menu should be easy to navigate, text and images should not extend beyond the screen, the font size should be readable, and all elements should display correctly. Even if your site looks fine on your smartphone, that doesn’t guarantee it will look the same on other devices.

How to Check if the Mobile Version is Causing a High Bounce Rate?

Google Analytics can help. By analyzing user behavior from different device categories in Google Analytics, go to Reports, then Audience > Mobile > Overview.

If your mobile version has issues, you’ll see a high bounce rate, low session duration, poor page depth, and a low conversion rate. Compare these metrics with those of the desktop version—if there are significant differences, the issue may lie with your site’s mobile adaptability.

If the desktop version shows good performance, but the mobile version lags significantly, there may be mobile responsiveness issues. You can further narrow down the problem using Google Analytics to identify the specific mobile resolutions, models, and browsers where issues occur.

To fix mobile version problems, you’ll need assistance from a web development company. Resolving such issues on your own without the necessary skills is unlikely.

What if Your Site is Technically Optimized and Has a Great Mobile Version, but the Bounce Rate is Still High?

Low-Quality Content as a Cause of High Bounce Rate

This could be due to the quality of the text, graphic, or video content on your site. Put yourself in your potential customer's shoes and review each page for accessibility, completeness of product or service descriptions, and the quality of product photos.

Ensure that all information about your product is clear and concise, with images, videos, specifications, prices, and descriptions readily available. For services, make sure the user understands exactly what’s included, the timelines, and the cost. An important factor is marketing: does the page feature a unique selling proposition (USP), or offer perks like free shipping, money-back guarantees, bonuses, or gifts? We’ll discuss marketing strategies for improving conversions in a future article.

Quality content is the foundation of your website. Through content, you communicate with your audience and present your product. If this aspect is weak, users will leave your site in search of a competitor. Keep in mind that visitors decide whether to stay on a site or leave within the first 3-5 seconds of landing on a page.

If your content is solid, but the bounce rate is still high, it's time to analyze traffic sources.

Analyzing the Quality of Traffic Channels

High bounce rates could be caused by irrelevant traffic—users who are not interested in your products or services or are not "warmed up" enough to convert. To check this hypothesis, use Google Analytics.

Google Analytics shows the main channels and sources of traffic, including:

Organic: Users who came from search engines (SEO traffic). If you see a high bounce rate here, analyze the landing pages. Content on these pages may be ranking for non-target keywords, causing users to leave. In this case, review the search queries driving irrelevant traffic and adjust the target page’s content.

Another reason for a high bounce rate in organic traffic could be a site hack that results in unwanted content. Confirm this by analyzing landing pages. If you detect a hack, contact a web development company to eliminate the vulnerability and clean the site of malicious code.

Paid Search: This is paid traffic from Google Ads and its partners. If the bounce rate is high here, analyze your ad campaigns for irrelevant keywords, refine the negative keyword list, and review the ad content.

Direct: Users who directly enter your site’s URL (from a business card, radio ad, etc.). However, this category also includes users from Telegram channels and other messengers.

Social - traffic from social media. This traffic channel speaks for itself and requires no further explanation. If you notice any unusual behavioral patterns through this channel, analyze your social media ad campaigns. If needed, consult specialized digital agencies for help with setting up ads on Facebook and Instagram. We have previously discussed how to set up Instagram ads yourself in this article.

Referral: Traffic from other websites linking to yours. Track the source of this traffic and analyze the quality of the referring page and content.

Conclusion

At first glance, the bounce rate may seem like an unclear and unimportant number. However, as you’ve learned, the bounce rate is one of the most critical indicators of your site’s health. It's comparable to a blood test: an experienced doctor can make the right diagnosis and bring the patient back to health. Similarly, understanding and managing your bounce rate can revitalize your website's performance.