No single metric exists in a vacuum. You should always look at one metric in the context of other metrics. Once you start measuring in terms of rates, the depth of context is multiplicative. Your talking about two metrics each with their own contexts. An example of the context around one metric is visits. Visits may be up, but you must remember that visits are collections of page views. It might be a great feeling to report that visits are up, but what if page views are down? For some that might still bode well, so you have to take into account the intent of your website.
“Come on, Dustin, what is the missing factor of bounce rate?” Ok, ok…it’s the total number of visits to that particular page. Without that context, you run the risk of providing an empty insight.
YOU: ”The bounce rate on the FAQ page is 90%. We better fix that!”
SOME OTHER PERSON WHO ALWAYS PICKS AT YOUR ANALYSIS: ”Hey, our FAQ page only gets ten visits a month! You should have had a V-8! [sound of your head being smacked]”
So don’t forget context and breakfast when considering bounce rate and other metrics.
