Basic Web Analytics: Time on Site, Bounce Rate Laura Lee S. Dooley Online Engagement Strategist World Resources Institute ( www.wri.org ) twitter.com/lauraleedooley [email_address]

Metric #3: Average Time The average amount of time visitors spent viewing this set of pages or page

Scorecard metrics Google.com = 8.4 min/day

Time on Site Computation for Tabbed Browsing Avinash Kaushik One session, visit “reorganized” by time stamps 1 Visit, 1 Unique Visitor, 7 minutes Page 4 (1 min) Page 2 (4 min) Page 3 (2 min) Page 5 (0 min) Home (1 min) > > > > Exit 10:07 10:05 10:02 10:01 Enter - 10:00

Metric # 4: Bounce Rate % of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page

Attributes of bounce rate Really hard to misunderstand = users who land on your site and refused to give you even one single click! Available in most web analytics tools, including Google Analytics. Quick and easy to use. Helps you identify and make changes in under an hour.

Really hard to misunderstand = users who land on your site and refused to give you even one single click!

Available in most web analytics tools, including Google Analytics.

Quick and easy to use. Helps you identify and make changes in under an hour.

Previous Page Current Page Next Page Bounce Rate = 100% Exits = 60% Bounce rate v. exits

Previous Page Current Page Next Page Bounce Rate = 80% Exits = 70% Bounce rate v. exits

Previous Page Current Page Next Page Bounce Rate = 20% Exits = 40% Bounce rate v. exits

Scorecard metrics 40-60%

How did the visitor come to your page? Why did they exit?

Bounce Rate Metrics Site average Top content, landing pages Referring sites Search keywords Adwords, Campaigns

Site average

Top content, landing pages

Referring sites

Search keywords

Adwords, Campaigns

Site average v. landing pages

Top content, landing pages

Referring sites: Highest bounce rate

Referring sites: Landing pages

Search keywords

Adwords

Adwords

Site Overlay

Recommendations for lower bounce rates

bounce rate is very much influenced by what is visible to the visitor

Add landing page links to … feature articles with in-depth analysis other news articles on the same topic dedicated reference page dealing with only the specific topic comment section/forum to invite participation by readers back story or general background information multi-media presentations (audio/video)

feature articles with in-depth analysis

other news articles on the same topic

dedicated reference page dealing with only the specific topic

comment section/forum to invite participation by readers

back story or general background information

multi-media presentations (audio/video)