Should I count not-home doors in my close rate?

No. Close rate is sales divided by contacts, where a contact is a door at which somebody spoke to you. Including empty houses gives you a knock-to-close ratio, which is a different and less diagnostic number.

How soon should I come back?

At a different hour rather than a different day, at least the first time. The one thing you learned is that this household was out at that time.

How many times should I try the same house?

Until the pattern is informative rather than until you feel finished. Three visits at the same hour tell you less than two visits at different hours.

What to do when nobody answers

When nobody answers, log it as not home and move on. It is a scheduling outcome and it says nothing about your pitch, so it should never be counted as a rejection or used to judge your close rate. The useful response is to return at a different hour, because the only new information you have is that this household was out at this time.

Not home is not a no

This is the single most expensive misreading in door-to-door work. A rep who counts empty houses as rejection finishes the day believing they were turned down forty times, when they may have had four conversations and been turned down twice.

The emotional cost is obvious. The analytical cost is worse: it corrupts every number you would otherwise use to improve, because close rate measured against total doors moves whenever your timing changes and tells you nothing about your pitch.

What the outcome actually tells you

One piece of information, and it is about the hour rather than the household: this address was empty at this time on this day. That is worth recording precisely because it accumulates. A house that is empty at the same hour three times is telling you something clear.

It is also why the timestamp matters. A knock logged with the wrong time is worse than not logging it, since it will later argue for the wrong hours.

Leaving something, and whether it helps

Practice varies by trade and by company, and some jurisdictions restrict what may be left and where. Check your own rules before adopting anyone else's habit here, because the penalties land on the company rather than on the advice.

Common questions

Should I count not-home doors in my close rate?: No. Close rate is sales divided by contacts, where a contact is a door at which somebody spoke to you. Including empty houses gives you a knock-to-close ratio, which is a different and less diagnostic number.
How soon should I come back?: At a different hour rather than a different day, at least the first time. The one thing you learned is that this household was out at that time.
How many times should I try the same house?: Until the pattern is informative rather than until you feel finished. Three visits at the same hour tell you less than two visits at different hours.

More on door knocking

The craft of working a door: approach, first line, reading the house, what to do when nobody answers.

All of door knocking