Bounce Rate
Share of visitors who leave without interacting. High bounce signals bad UX or poor query match.
Full definition
Bounce Rate is the share of visitors who left the site after viewing only one page, without interaction.
Formulas by analytics platform
- •Google Analytics 4 (Engaged sessions) — bounce = session under 10s + fewer than 2 pages + no events
- •Adobe Analytics, Matomo — vary by configuration
What counts as "good" bounce rate
| Site type | Norm | |---|---| | Blog / informational | 70-90% (this is normal — user read and left) | | E-commerce | 20-45% | | Service landing | 60-90% | | B2B site | 25-55% | | Corporate | 25-55% |
Is high bounce always bad?
No. Context matters more than the number: - Blog: 85% — normal, user got the answer and left (this is success) - Landing: 90% — normal if conversion is high (bought → left) - Product page: 70% — bad, expected to go to cart
When bounce is a real problem
- •Sudden bounce rate spike of 30%+ after changes
- •High bounce on commercial pages with low conversion
- •Bounce 95%+ on any page (likely a technical issue)
Top causes of high bounce
1. Slow site — user didn't wait for load 2. Irrelevant traffic — came for something else 3. Bad mobile version — uncomfortable on phone 4. Pop-up in the first 5 seconds — user annoyed 5. No CTA — nowhere to click next 6. Complex navigation — doesn't understand what to do
Effect on SEO
Google formally doesn't use bounce rate as a factor. But via dwell time (time on page) and return-to-SERP (did user go back to search) — indirectly accounts for it.
How to improve
- •Load speed → Core Web Vitals green
- •Relevance → review Title and Description
- •Sticky first screen → USP + clear CTA
- •Internal linking → "Related materials" block