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executive

 
Executive Report - By Thomas Baekdal - February 2011

Forget Bounce Rates, focus on Conversions

A loyal fan is a far more important metric than a follower. Just because someone is following you doesn't mean that are actually buying your products or reading your content.

I could write many articles about what's wrong with web analytics. Most metrics don't tell you anything, and some even causes you to make the wrong decisions.

One of these is "bounce rate." As Google puts it:

Bounce Rate is the percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page.) Bounce Rate is a measure of visit quality and a high Bounce Rate generally indicates thatsite entrance (landing) pages aren't relevant to your visitors.

Many web consultants look at bounce rates as one of the most important metrics of all. They will tell you that it is a very bad thing when people only see the first page of your site.

Indeed, bounce rates used to be very important in the past, back when the internet didn't actually work. But today the world has changed. The way we use the internet is drastically different. Focusing on bounce rates might distract you from your real goal.

To put this into perspective, let me take you on a little tour of the history of ...bouncing. And, into the future of direct engagement and conversion rates.

 
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What is Baekdal?

Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.

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Thomas Baekdal

Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter

"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made ​​himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé

 

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