Back to glossary
Analytics Definition

Bounce Rate

The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page without taking any action.

Full definition

In Universal Analytics, bounce rate measured single-page sessions with no interaction. In GA4, the metric was replaced by engagement rate — the inverse of bounce rate — defined as sessions lasting over 10 seconds, with a conversion, or with two or more page views. A high bounce rate on a landing page typically signals a mismatch between ad messaging and page content, slow page load, or poor UX. However, context matters: a blog post where users read and leave is normal, whereas a product page with a high bounce rate is usually a problem to investigate.

Real-world example

A landing page receiving paid traffic has a 78% bounce rate. Investigation reveals the page loads in 6 seconds on mobile — fixing load time drops the bounce rate to 42%.

Ready to apply this to your business?

Build a custom digital marketing proposal in 60 seconds. We scope the right strategy for your market, industry, and growth goals.

Build my proposal