Bounce Rate

Why It Matters

Bounce rate signals content relevance and user experience quality. High bounce rates may indicate poor content match, slow pages, or bad UX, potentially hurting rankings. However, context matters - blog posts naturally have higher bounces than e-commerce sites.

How It Works

GA4 tracks engaged sessions (10+ seconds, conversion, or 2+ pages) vs total sessions. Engagement rate = engaged sessions / total sessions. Non-engaged sessions (bounces) suggest users didn't find what they wanted. Search engines may use engagement signals as ranking factors.

Use Cases

• A blog post with 80% bounce rate is normal - users read and leave satisfied
• A product page with 80% bounce rate signals problems - users should explore more products or checkout
• A landing page with 90% bounce rate from organic search indicates search intent mismatch

Best Practices

• Analyze bounce rate in context - compare similar page types, not all pages equally
• Investigate high-bounce pages from organic traffic for intent mismatch or UX issues
• Improve bounce rates with faster load times, better content relevance, and clear CTAs
• Use internal linking to encourage multi-page sessions on naturally high-bounce content
• Set up scroll tracking and events to measure engagement beyond simple page loads
• Focus on engagement rate in GA4 rather than obsessing over bounce rate numbers