Important page analytics metrics to understand

There are several metrics which are helpful to understand when reviewing the various page reports.

Pageviews vs Unique Pageviews

These are two of the most important metrics within the page reports, so it is critical to understand the difference between Pageviews and Unique Pageviews. Pageviews represent the number of times that a specific page has been viewed, whereas Unique Pageviews represent the number of times a page has been viewed as part of a different visit.

For example, if two visitors each viewed your homepage four times, that would count as eight pageviews and only two unique pageviews. This is because only two unique users visited your site, but the homepage was loaded and viewed eight times. However, if five different visitors each viewed the homepage once, that would count as five pageviews and also five unique pageviews.

Taking a step back, Unique Pageviews can give an idea of the breadth of exposure a page is getting. Whereas Pageviews can provide a measure of the engagement a page is receiving by the number of times it has been viewed. Depending on where a page sits within your user journey and its intended usage, you might focus more on one metric than the other.

Bounce Rate

A Bounce is when somebody visits a page on your website and then leaves without taking any other tracked action such as clicking to another page or downloading something. The Bounce Rate is the percentage of people that have done this for a specific page; it is calculated by dividing the number of Bounces by the number of Entrances.

How to Improve Your Bounce Rate

If you find that you have a high bounce rate across the pages on your site it likely means one of three things. The “good” first reason for a bounce is in cases where for example, the goal of the page is to answer people’s questions and it succeeds (say on a government website, or other informational page where it’s not needed to get people to click more).

If however, your page isn’t informational and designed for a single hit, then you might have a “bad” bounce. This often occurs when you are receiving untargeted traffic that isn’t interested in what you actually have to offer, or when your site isn’t meeting people’s expectations in one way or another.

To fix the first issue you need to track where your traffic is coming from and ensure that you are reaching the right audiences. Next, you can review your pages to ensure your site’s content is well crafted and optimised on top.

Exit Rate

The Exit Rate is the percentage of people that left your website directly after visiting a specific page. If the page you are analysing is the first step in your sales funnel then a high exit rate is a bad thing, however, if the page is the final step in a funnel, or provides useful documentation for something off-site, then a high exit rate may suggest that people have found what they are looking for. Exit rates can be helpful in comparison with other similar pages on your site.