What Is Visitor Returning Rate? And Why Does It Matter?

What is visitor return rate?

Visitor return rate, also known as visitor retention rate, measures the percentage of visitors who come back to a website or location after their initial visit. A high return rate indicates visitor satisfaction and engagement, while a low return rate suggests a lack of interest. Calculated by dividing returning visitors by unique visitors and multiplying by 100, this metric helps assess marketing effectiveness and user experience.

Why a good visitor return rate matters

The visitor return rate is not a direct factor for search engine rankings, but it indirectly affects rankings through user engagement signals. When visitors frequently return to a website, spend more time on it, and share its content, search engines interpret this as positive indicators of quality and authority, potentially leading to improved rankings. Additionally, a high return rate can generate organic backlinks and increase visibility, further benefiting search engine optimization efforts.

Visitor Return Rate Settings

With Traffic Creator, you can control how often visitors come back to your website based on what you need. You can set the visitor return rate in your project settings anywhere from 0% to 100%. However, please note that generating an exact visitor return rate is quite challenging.

So, it's possible that the rate may vary slightly over time by a few percent.

Visitor Return Rates By Industries

Visitor return rates can vary significantly depending on the industry, target audience, and various other factors. However, here are some general benchmarks for visitor return rates across different industries:

E-commerce:
E-commerce websites typically have a wide range of return rates, but an average return rate of around 20-30% is considered normal. Factors such as the quality of products, customer service, and return policies can significantly impact return rates.