What is Exit Rate?
Exit Rate is a key web analytics metric that indicates the percentage of visitors who leave your website from a specific page. Unlike Bounce Rate, which measures sessions that start and end on the same page with no interaction, Exit Rate applies to all pageviews, regardless of where the session began.
Understanding the exit rate of individual pages helps webmasters and SEO professionals identify where users are dropping off in the conversion funnel. A high exit rate on a thank-you page is good; a high exit rate on a checkout page is usually a warning sign.
How to Calculate Exit Rate
To use this calculator effectively, you need two metrics typically found in Google Analytics (GA4 or Universal Analytics):
- Total Exits: The number of times visitors ended their session on the specific page.
- Total Pageviews: The total number of times the specific page was viewed.
Exit Rate vs. Bounce Rate
This is the most common confusion in web analytics. Here is the distinction:
- Bounce Rate: Calculates the percentage of sessions where a user lands on a page and leaves without triggering any other request to the analytics server. It measures landing page effectiveness.
- Exit Rate: Calculates the percentage of pageviews that were the last in the session. It measures how often a specific page is the final step in the user journey.
Interpreting the Results
Is a high exit rate bad? It depends entirely on the context of the page:
- Informational Content (Blogs): A moderate-to-high exit rate is normal. Users come, find the answer, and leave.
- Conversion Pages (Checkout, Sign-up): A high exit rate here indicates friction. Users are abandoning the process before completion.
- Contact Us / Thank You Pages: A high exit rate is expected and natural, as these are often the logical end of a user journey.
Strategies to Lower High Exit Rates
If you discover a high exit rate on a page where you want users to continue browsing:
- Internal Linking: Add clear, relevant links to related content.
- Calls to Action (CTA): Ensure your CTAs are visible and compelling.
- Page Speed: Slow loading times often cause users to close the tab immediately.
- Mobile Optimization: Ensure the page renders correctly on mobile devices.