When most people discuss web statistics, the word “hit” seems to be popular. However, as you will learn in this video, hits are completely irrelevant. The real stat you need to track is your Bounce Rate. Learn why this stat is so important and how you can check it on your own site!
Note from Eric: Below, you will find a word-for-word transcript of this video. I provide this as an aid for the hearing-impaired and for those who might just want to read it rather than watch the video. This conversational style is not reflective of how I write. Be nice!
Hey guys it’s Eric Spellmann and we’re back and this time we’re gonna be talking about statistics. Specifically web statistics. Specifically, the only one you need to care about and that’s the Bounce Rate.When we talk about web statistics, think back to the early days of the internet. WAYYYYYY back in the beginning when everyone was talking about Hits. It was all about Hits. You know my website gets this many hits, my website gets this many hits. It was whoever had the most hits, wins. And in fact a lot of people said successful website design is one that gets the most hits.
Well I’m here to tell you that that’s not true. Hits are completely irrelevant. Because you see, most people don’t even know what the definition of a Hit is. Basically a Hit is a file transfer. All I mean is, a file was transferred from the web server to you. When you visit a web page and a hit occurs, a file transfers. Now you’re probably saying what Eric isn’t that important. I mean the more file transfers, that’s the more traffic and the more traffic that’s good.
Nooo! Think about this for a second. The average webpage has multiple files associated with it. Did you know that every picture on that page is it’s own file? So, think about this for a second. A webpage with eight pictures, when it’s downloaded once will generate how many hits? Nine! Eight for the pictures and one for the page itself. So one person visiting that page once will generate 9 hits. Does this make sense? So think about this what if you had a website that had a 100 pictures on it. All of a sudden you are swimming in hits and you’re bragging all your friends.
Folks hits are irrelevant. They really don’t give the true picture. If you really wanted to look at a counting stat that mattered, you may want to consider page-views. In other words, that’s how many times a page was viewed in its entirety. But folks am here to tell you that there is a better statistic. I mean if we’re really looking at how well our website is doing, the best way to measure it is something called The Bounce Rate.
Now let’s get the definition. Basically, The Bounce Rate is the percentage of people who go to your site and don’t click on anything. The percentage of people who land on your home page and then leave, they Bounce Off! Now folks the most important thing to remember here is that the Bounce Rate should be below 30%. And that’s where online marketing comes in.
In our industry, the way we measure success is if less than 30% of the people who come, leave immediately, you’re doing great. Which means 70% of the people who land on your site are actually clicking on something. I mean think about that for a second. Isn’t that truly how we measure the success of a website? I mean I could send millions of people to your website, but if they’re not doing anything, if they just leave, did you gain any benefit? Not at all!
So, really, we’re talking about a website that encourages people to go deeper. A website that encourages people to click. Now some of you are saying well how do I see this bounce rate thing. Well first of all, are you even seeing the statistics for your website? Whoever built your website, or whoever hosts your website should be tracking these statistics. And in a perfect world you’re receiving these via e-mail or you have the ability to login and look at them.
And if you own a website and you’re not looking at your statistics shame on you! Keep in mind you cannot manage what you cannot measure. And there is no way for you to measure the effectiveness of your website design if you’re not looking at the numbers.
Ask those people who built your website, ask those people who are hosting your website where are my numbers? And specifically what’s my bounce rate? Now if you call your web guy and he says what’s a bounce rate, that should be telling. That should be something that concerns you. If they’re talking about traffic, if they’re talking about hits, folks that is so late 1990s. And once again that does not measure the effectiveness of your website.
Remember it’s not about the traffic, it’s about the effectiveness. Some people even call it “Web Stickiness”. How sticky is your website? No matter then people get there how long do they stay, which is another statistic to look it’s at how long people stay on your site. But when it’s all said and done folks, really the Bounce Rate is the most effective.
Now keep in mind I’ll be sending in videos every week. They’ll be on different topics and I’ll try to keep em nice and short. But if you ever have any questions just email me or call me or check my website. I’d love to hear from you. I’m Eric Spellmann. I’ll see you in cyberspace!