exit page statistics query Options

[evvo]

I have been checking our website visitor stats for a while now, and whilst our home page is the highest listed entry and exit page (as expected), im not sure if the stats are 'typical' of most sites.

The home page is the entry point for 52.6% of visitors but im more concerned that the home page is also the top EXIT page, namely for 28.4% of visitors.

Would anyone know if this is a figure i might expect, or is it high. My feeling is that 28% is high, but dont have any comparable metrics to use as a benchmark of what is 'typical'.

any comments appreciated...

[Black_Knight]

Actually, I've seen far worse, where the majority of visitors (80% of all traffic) were landing on the homepage of a site, but also the majority (76%) of those were exiting immediately. The reason was in the search engine listings, where the listings were not accurately representing what the page was about, so people were clicking onto the site looking for something the site didn't offer.

Look at your referral logs to see what phrases people are using to arrive at your homepage. Think about their likely motives in making those searches, and then think whether those were properly targeted leads for you, or if you need to make your listings more accurately pre-qualify your visitors in order to prevent negative reactions or false hope visits.

[anubis_cali]

Awesome post Black Knight!
I've been looking for some visitor statistic averages for some time now. Your reply created a "light bulb" for a test to run with my site stats.

Anyone else with some "average statistics", like:
Exit Rates
Length On Site
Length on Page
Average Number of Pages Viewed
?

[Black_Knight]

Be careful with 'average' site statistics, because I don't think I've ever seen an 'average' website yet. Each site is different, and where business objectives and revenue streams are different, so should their stats be.

Take for example two sites providing articles:

In the first, the objective is to show their expertise in that very field, and so brand themselves as reliable, helpful experts. They make their pages very easy to print, and provide many in-context links to show what their commercial services are about. Their business objective is to get leads, and the faster they can do that the happier they are. Their average number of page views may be brief, because people searching for information on a particular task or aspect will land at a deep-content page, and then be lead (hopefully) to contact the company. They might average only three page views per customer, and would hope to have the 'Contact Us' page as the main exit page.

Now the second website is also providing articles, perhaps even in the same field. However, their business is advertising based. They don't provide a service themselves, but rather, they carry adverts for those that do. It might be as simple as providing Google AdSense ads on their pages. This second website may well be set up to deliberately increase the number of page views. They'll paginate their articles, because that way they can show more ads to each visitor, and hopefully increase the chances that one will appeal. So they might easily design the site to average ten page views or more per visitor. They don't care which page is an exit page, provided the exit was via clicking an ad.

There is no 'average' that is broader than average for just one specific site with a specific objective. Any company aiming to be 'average' would have missed the whole point of developing a [glossary]USP[/glossary], and would not likely survive for long. Averages are a make-believe that exists purely for statistics, and can be a real blinding factor if taken otherwise.

Here's an example to illustrate the danger of statistics:
Two teams of three people decide to run businesses. When you use statistical analysis on each team as a team, they both are equally good at management, sales, and accounting. However, in one of those cases, each member of the team is a specialist, performing only their role, and the other team members are weak in that skill.

Team A has a superb accountant and two guys who are not at all skilled at accounting. Team A has a great manager, and neither the accountant nor the salesman are skilled in that field. Team A's salesman is superb, but the manager and accountant are rather poor at making sales presentations.

Team B has three people who are just 'okay' at every one of the skills. The average team scores look the same, but the facts are that Team A can outperform Team B in any one of the three skills where they don't need to use their weakest team member. Team B are more flexible, and can swap roles, but Team A is where the talented individuals are.

Statistics are only as good as your understanding of them, and can easily obscure the truth rather than reveal it. That's why the saying: There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

[anubis_cali]

Thanks BlackKnight.

Our site is like site A, lead generation.

We recently purchased ClickTracks, and it is working great for us so far, but I know we could be using it to a greater potential.

Any ideas for sources of various tests that can be run, statistics that can be compared, and conclusions that can be made?

Or any books/3rd party resources that help explain making conlusions with ClickTracks imparticular?

[kelvinbrown]

Depending on the structure of your site, they may visit other pages, and then return to the home to make their exit.

For example I have some of my sites set so the user may want to return to the home page to find out where else to go. After they have looked around enough, they may end up exiting from the home page.

kelvin

[Respree]

Visitor's have to leave your site at some point. Is the homepage as good as any? A high homepage exit rate suggests visitors did not find what they were looking for as they hit your homepage.

As Ammon has suggested, one cause could be the keywords your visitors came in on.

Another thought is that you do in fact have the right keywords, but could improve the content on your homepage so that it encourages that all-important second click (which hopefully, will lead to a third and a fourth).

I would examine your navigational structure. Use linknames that are easy to understand and clearly marked. Write compelling copy to grab the reader's interest so that they 'will' make that important second click. Have a professional looking and visually appealing homepage to build trust and confidence, which will also increase your chances for that second click.

[Black_Knight]

Use linknames that are easy to understand and clearly marked.

Here's a quick and useful tip:
Sometimes, the space constraints of a navigation menu mean that we have to word a link so that it fits the menu properly, and that can be at the expense of fitting the purpose as well as it should. Where possible, do ensure that the link still gives an excellent idea of what they'll find at the other side of it. The 'tip' here is that any link (<A> tag) can be given a TITLE attribute.

e.g.
<a href="links.html" title="Further sources of information and resources"> Other Resources </a>

The TITLE attribute contents get displayed as a tool tip in most up-to-date browsers, so when the mouse pointer is over the link, the tool tip appears to help the user clarify what is there.

[ConversionRater]

anubis_cali, a good book to read would be Web Analytics Demystified by Eric Peterson. He's the Jupiter Analyst in charge of web analytics, and the book discusses lots of key metrics, how to compare them, how to use them to benefit your site, and other various details.

You're at that great point where you're diving into your statistics and figuring out what makes sense for you to track and try and improve. There are lots of interesting things you can do at that point. Just remember, just because a statistic is there or available, doesn't mean it's one you need to focus on improving. Pick the statistics that best help you achieve your business goals.

Just taking a guess since you're a lead generation site, some things I'd focus on would be:

- Conversion rate on getting leads
- Click paths users are taking through your site
- Where users are exiting, is it somewhere on the way to getting a lead?
- Referring keywords, are they searching for what you offer? Are they searching for something you could offer?

[brassones]

you arent interested in exit page alone. you are interested in visits relative to exits.
simply divide visits by exits (or vice versa) for all pages and you get a ratio. use that ratio to compare one page to another..apples with apples..

[anubis_cali]

Thanks ConversionRater!

I was trying to decide which book to choose in this area, and that one looked good. I'll definately pick up a copy now.

Yes, it's very interesting thinking up various tests you can run with all the stats.