High Bounce Rates On Web Sites Don't Necessarily Impact Google Rankings

Mar 28, 2016 - 7:46 am 11 by

Google Bounce Logo

A Cre8asite Forum thread has a discussion about is it bad to have a really high bounce rate on your site? Would a really high bounce rate result in Google dropping your rankings.

The short answer is no.

(1) Google doesn't have data on site bounce rates.

(2) Google said back in 2008 that bounce rate metrics are spammable and noisy and has said that time and time again.

(3) Last week, Google said not just the above but also that high bounce rates may be the expected behavior on a specific site.

This site has a 75% bounce rate but that is typical of most news oriented web sites. They read the story and leave. Then read the next new story and leave and so on. That is how users read news sites.

So the truth is, you want your site to fill the user's need. If it means they read one article or help content or whatever and leave, that is the expected behavior and that is a good result. It doesn't have a negative impact on your rankings in Google.

Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Search Engine Optimization

IRS Website Drops Heavily In Google Search

Aug 27, 2026 - 2:23 pm
Google

Google AI Mode Adds Flight Price Tracking, Mile Rates & Hotel Booking

Aug 27, 2026 - 12:00 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: August 27, 2026

Aug 27, 2026 - 10:00 am
Bing Search

Bing Tests Renaming Copilot Search Answer To AI Overviews

Aug 27, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ask Advisor Soon To Get Shared Memory Across Tools

Aug 27, 2026 - 7:41 am
Bing Ads

Microsoft Advertising Search Term Landing Page Report For AI Max

Aug 27, 2026 - 7:31 am
 
Previous Story: Twitter Engineer Enjoying Google LA Office