A navigation bounce is similar to a traditional bounce, but it monitors user exits from individual pages within a site rather than the site as a whole. Specifically, it tracks how users interact with different pages during their session. This differs from a traditional bounce, which occurs when a user leaves the site after viewing only the landing page. Navigation bounces provide a more granular level of insight by tracking these activities within the site, helping to identify specific pages that may be problematic or less engaging.
For example, if a user was browsing a site on recipes, and they browsed through a pasta recipe, then clicked through to a soup recipe and then clicked on a cake recipe, then quickly clicked the back button to go back to the soup recipe or exits the page entirely, this would be marked as a 'navigation bounce'. So a navigation bounce differs from a traditional bounce in that it's within the pages of the site. The diagram below outlines this further:
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Understanding navigation bounces can offer significant insights into user engagement and site performance. When a particular page receives a lot of navigation bounces, it may indicate that the page is either not meeting user expectations or was an accidental click. This metric is valuable for publishers as it helps them understand how visitors interact with their site's content, thereby allowing for more refined content strategies.
In summary, while traditional bounces measure overall site exits, navigation bounces focus on user interactions within individual pages, providing deeper insights into user behavior and content effectiveness.