When Google Analytics Metrics Are Useful and When They Aren't

[djbaxter]

When Bounce Rate, Browse Rate (PPV), and Time-on-Site Are Useful Metrics... and When They Aren't - Whiteboard Friday
by randfish, Moz.com
June 15, 2018

When is it right to use metrics like bounce rate, pages per visit, and time on site? When are you better off ignoring them? ....

Bounce rate is basically the average percent of people who landed on a page and then left your website, not to continue on any other page on that site after visiting that page.

Pages per visit is essentially exactly what it sounds like, the average number of pages per visit for people who landed on that particular page. So people who came in through one of these pages, how many pages did they visit on my site.

Then time on site is essentially a very raw and rough metric. If I leave my computer to use the restroom or I basically switch to another tab or close my browser, it's not necessarily the case that time on site ends right then. So this metric has a lot of imperfections. Now, averaged over time, it can still be directionally interesting.

But when you use these instead of conversion actions, which is what we all should be optimizing for ultimately, you can definitely get into some suckage with these metrics.

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