Bounce rate
Measurement and data
Measurement and data
Bounce rate is the share of visits where someone leaves without further action. In GA4 it is exactly the inverse of the engaged-session rate.
In old Universal Analytics a bounce was any visit with exactly one pageview. In GA4 a session counts as engaged once someone stays over ten seconds, views a second page or converts; everything else bounces. So do not compare numbers across those systems.
A high rate is not automatically bad. On a blog or an opening-hours page someone may find exactly what they needed and leave happy. On a category page or a step in your enquiry flow it is a signal.
Look per page and per source rather than at the site average. Slow loading, a mismatched ad promise and a page that does not answer the query are the usual causes.
Tip
Improve the page itself — speed, matching the query, a clear next step — to bring the bounce rate down. That way behaviour actually changes, not just the number.
Related terms
- Engaged sessionIn GA4 an engaged session is a visit lasting over ten seconds, producing a conversion, or viewing at least two pages. Its inverse is the bounce rate.
- GA4GA4 is the current version of Google Analytics. Everything is recorded as an event, instead of pageviews with separate goals as in Universal Analytics.
- Conversion rateConversion rate (CR) is the share of visitors who take the desired action: buy, request, call or subscribe.
- Load timeLoad time is how long before a visitor can see and use your page — not how fast the server responds.