1

I am currently looking at our on-site analytics, focusing mainly on exit rates to try and work out where we can do better in terms of targeting, pricing, range etc.

However I am still trying to get my head around what a 'reasonable' exit rate would be? Especially since the industry we are in is quite broad in terms of people not knowing what they're looking for, hence the need for pages to target multiple phrases.

My idea would be something like 20%, however this could be way too low or even too high from my experience. Of course, this does depend on the industry/type of website so im not expecting an exact number.

We are an ecommerce store style of website.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

I think you might be thinking of Bounce Rate rather than Exit Rate. Bounce Rate, which has specific industry benchmarks, is where a user lands on a page and exits the website without going to any other pages. This is not difficult for researchers to quantify, since they can gather data for any number of e-commerce websites and find the average. In my experience, anything from 10% (which would be a great scenario actually) to 35% (more common) is normal, so your guess falls right in the middle of that.

On the other hand, Exit Rate is relevant specifically to your website. If a page has a high Exit Rate, a large number of users might have seen any number of pages on your site, then got to that page and left. This is very common for pages in the buy flow. (These buy flow pages should have a Bounce Rate close to zero, since they should be noindexed.) But since Exit Rate is so page-specific, it's much harder to put a number on it.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    I agree with this answer. 100% of users exit your site. The exit rate of a page tells you where many of them did so. Typically you want to engage users until they "convert" (like make a purchase). It would be nice if the "thank you for your purchase" page was the one page on the site with a non-zero exit rate.
    – Stephen Ostermiller ♦
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 16:19
  • @henry-visotski In this case, what tools or websites would I use to gather data from my competitors to get an idea of an industry average? I think that exit rates are just as important as bounce rate in the sense that if a page is frequently being exited, then there could be an issue there. However, bounce can also give you a better idea of this.
    – Jvital
    Commented Jun 16, 2017 at 8:27
  • I haven't used any tools that would tell you competitor bounce rates, but SimilarWeb gets thrown around: similarweb.com - and you can usually compare benchmarks via anything from SEMrush to marketing automation systems' built in tools. (I've enjoyed using SEMrush in the past, but it's more rankings and PPC metrics.) I was able to give you bounce rate figures from my own experience and from studies I've read; keep an eye out for industry benchmark reports. Lastly, talk to marketers at meetups and conferences - they'll be a good source of info, if they're willing to disclose it.
    – Henry Visotski
    Commented Jun 16, 2017 at 14:25

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.