Bounce rate

Understanding bounce rate

A bounce occurs when someone lands on your site and leaves without visiting another page or triggering any tracked events. If 60% of visitors bounce, that means six out of ten people see one page and leave immediately.

High bounce rates can signal problems: poor user experience, slow loading times, misleading search listings, or content that doesn't match visitor expectations. When people arrive expecting one thing and find another, they bounce.

When bounce rate doesn't matter

Context determines whether bounce rate is concerning. A blog post that comprehensively answers a specific question may have 70% bounce rate but perfectly serve its purpose. Visitors found what they needed and left satisfied.

Contact pages, pricing pages, and single-page sites naturally have higher bounce rates. If visitors complete their goal on one page—booking a call, noting your phone number, understanding your pricing—a bounce doesn't indicate failure.

Analysing bounce rate effectively

Never evaluate bounce rate in isolation. Combine it with time on page, scroll depth, and conversion data. High bounce rate with low time on page suggests content problems. High bounce with good engagement time may indicate satisfied visitors.

Compare bounce rates across traffic sources. Organic traffic typically bounces less than paid ads—searchers found you naturally versus interruption-based advertising. Social traffic often bounces more, driven by curiosity rather than intent.

Reducing problematic bounce rates

Improve load times—visitors bounce if pages take more than three seconds to become interactive. Ensure mobile experience matches desktop quality. Verify your meta descriptions accurately represent page content.

Add clear internal links to related content. Strong calls to action guide visitors toward next steps. Make your value proposition immediately clear in the hero section.