Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of sessions where a user leaves your site after viewing only a single page without any meaningful interaction, as redefined in Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
In GA4, bounce rate is the inverse of engagement rate. A session is considered engaged if it lasts longer than 10 seconds, has a conversion event, or includes 2+ pageviews. A "bounce" is a non-engaged session. This is different from Universal Analytics where any single-page session was a bounce regardless of time spent.
Bounce rate is not inherently bad. A user searching "what is a meta description", reading the answer, and leaving is a successful visit — even though it is a bounce. Context matters: high bounce rates on landing pages may be fine, but high bounce rates on product pages suggest a problem.
Reduce bounce rate by matching content to search intent, improving page speed (slow pages cause immediate bounces), using clear calls-to-action, and linking to related content that encourages further exploration.
Related terms
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who click on your search result after seeing it in the SERP, calculated as clicks divided by impressions.
Dwell Time
Dwell time is the duration a user spends on a page after clicking a search result and before returning to the search results page, used as an implicit user satisfaction signal.
Pogo-Sticking
Pogo-sticking is a search behavior pattern where a user clicks a search result, quickly returns to the SERP, and clicks a different result — indicating the first page did not satisfy their query.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics (GA4) is a free web analytics service by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, user behavior, engagement metrics, and conversion events.
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