Bounce Rate on Goole: Is It a Ranking Factor?
There is no clear answer as to whether or not bounce rate is a ranking factor on Google. However, there are some experts that believe it could be a factor that is taken into account when determining search engine results. If your website has a high bounce rate, it could mean that users are not finding what they are looking for on your site. This could lead to your site being ranked lower in search engine results.
Claims for Bounce Rate as Ranking Factor
The article published by Backlinko (June 2020) claims that Google might use your bounce rate as a ranking factor.
One of the most notable trends in search engine optimization is that Google uses a range or relative bounce rate to rank websites. This means they take into account how many visitors click on each site as well as where those visitors come from before ranking them based upon other factors such like content quality and rankings per word count
- MOZ (@randfishkin) May 2020
In December 2020, Semrush reinforced this claim. They said that bounce rate is an important ranking factor and it can be used to calculate your site’s quality score (or lack thereof).
HubSpot made a cheat sheet for Google’s known ranking factors that include bounce rates in July 2021.
There are a few key claims for bounce rate as ranking factor:
1. That a high bounce rate is indicative of a poor user experience
2. That a high bounce rate will cause Google to de-rank a site
3. That a low bounce rate is a positive signal to Google
Each of these claims will be discussed in more detail below.
1. High Bounce Rate = Poor User Experience?
It is often claimed that a high bounce rate is indicative of a poor user experience. This claim is based on the idea that if users are bouncing from your site, it means they didn’t find what they were looking for.
However, this isn’t always the case. There are a number of reasons why users might bounce from a site, and not all of them have to do with the quality of the site. For example, a user might bounce if they accidentally click on the wrong link. Or, they might only be looking for one specific piece of information and they find it right away, so they don’t need to stay on the site any longer.
In other words, a high bounce rate doesn’t necessarily mean that your site is providing a poor user experience. It’s important to look at other factors as well, such as time on site and pages per session, before you can draw any conclusions about the quality of your user experience.
2. High Bounce Rate = Google De-Ranking?
It is also often claimed that a high bounce rate will cause Google to de-rank a site. This claim is based on the idea that if users are bouncing from your site, it means they didn’t find what they were looking for. And if they didn’t find what they were looking for, it must mean that your site wasn’t relevant to their search query.
However, this isn’t necessarily true either. As we’ve already discussed, there are a number of reasons why users might bounce from a site. And just because a user bounces doesn’t mean that your site wasn’t relevant to their search query.
In other words, a high bounce rate doesn’t necessarily mean that your site will be de-ranked by Google. There are other factors that Google takes into account when determining whether or not to de-rank a site.
3. Low Bounce Rate = Positive Signal?
Finally, it is often claimed that a low bounce rate is a positive signal to Google. This claim is based on the idea that if users are staying on your site and engaging with your content, it must mean that they’re finding what they’re looking for. And if they’re finding what they’re looking for, it must mean that your site is relevant to their search query.
However, this isn’t necessarily true either. As we’ve already discussed, there are a number of reasons why users might stay on a site. And just because a user stays on your site doesn’t mean that your site is relevant to their search query.
In other words, a low bounce rate isn’t necessarily a positive signal to Google or SEO services. There are other factors that Google takes into account when determining whether or not to rank a site.
So Does Bounce Rate Really Affects Search Engine Ranking?
“Google Analytics is not used in search quality in any way for our rankings.” — Matt Cutts, Google Search Central, February 2, 2010.
“…we don’t use analytics/bounce rate in search ranking.” — Gary Illyes, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, Twitter, May 13, 2015.
“I think there’s a bit of misconception here that we’re looking at things like the analytics bounce rate when it comes to ranking websites, and that’s definitely not the case.” — John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, Webmaster Central office-hours, Jun 12, 2022.
Why Google Doesn’t Consider Bounce Rate a Ranking Factor?
The answer to this question is two-fold. First, Google does not consider bounce rate as a ranking factor because it is not a good measure of engagement. Second, even if bounce rate were a good measure of engagement, it would still not be a good predictor of whether someone is actually interested in the content on a particular page.
Bounce rate is defined as the percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page. This metric is often used as an indicator of engagement, but it is actually a poor measure of engagement for several reasons.
First, the vast majority of bounces are not due to users being uninterested in the content on the page they landed on. In fact, many bounces occur because the user found exactly what they were looking for on that page and had no need to view any other pages on the site. For example, if a user searches for “how to tie a tie” and lands on a page with a clear and concise guide on how to do so, they are likely to bounce after completing the task they came to the site to do. In this case, the bounce rate would be artificially high because the user was actually engaged with the content on the page.
Second, even if a user does not find what they’re looking for on a particular page, that doesn’t mean they didn’t find the overall experience valuable. For example, if a user is researching a new car purchase and visits a website to compare different models, they may not find the exact information they’re looking for on the first page they land on. However, if they found the site to be well-designed and easy to navigate, they may continue browsing other pages even if they don’t find what they’re looking for right away. In this case, the bounce rate would be artificially low because the user was actually engaged with the overall experience of the site, even though they didn’t find what they were looking for on the first page.
Because of these reasons, Google does not consider bounce rate to be a good measure of engagement. Even if it were a good measure of engagement, it would still not be a good predictor of whether someone is actually interested in the content on a particular page. This is because the vast majority of bounces are not due to users being uninterested in the content on the page they landed on. Instead, most bounces occur because the user found exactly what they were looking for on that page or because they found the overall experience of the site to be valuable even if they didn’t find what they were looking for right away. Therefore, Google does not consider bounce rate to be a ranking factor.
