What is Bounce rate? A short definition.

Bounce rate is the percentage of visits (sessions) in which the visitor viewed only one page, compared to the total number of visits to a website. They left the website after visiting the first page, without taking any further action. The entry page was therefore also the exit page.

A high bounce rate can theoretically mean that many visitors immediately find the information they were looking for. Usually, however, the opposite is the case. In search of higher conversion rates, it is important to keep the bounce rate as low as possible. This can be done, for example, by ensuring that visitors are presented with the right content and can easily navigate to related information.

Bounce rate in Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 uses a different definition. In GA4, bounce rate is the percentage of sessions that were not engaged. It is the opposite of engagement rate: an engagement rate of 60% means a bounce rate of 40%.

A session counts as an engaged session when it meets at least one of these conditions:

• it lasts longer than 10 seconds
• it has a key event
• it has 2 or more page or screen views

The 10 seconds is a default. You can change it in the web data stream under Configure tag settings, Adjust timer for engaged sessions. Events such as first_visit and session_start don’t count toward an engaged session, even if you mark them as key events.

Bounce rate in Universal Analytics

Universal Analytics, GA4’s predecessor, defined bounce rate as the percentage of single-page sessions in which there was no interaction with the page.

Google’s own Universal Analytics example: a visitor reads your homepage for several minutes and leaves without clicking a link. In Universal Analytics that was a bounce. Under GA4’s 10-second rule, that session would be engaged and not a bounce. A visitor who leaves within 10 seconds without doing anything is a bounce under both definitions.

So a bounce rate from Universal Analytics and one from GA4 measure different things. Don’t compare them directly, and check which definition a report or benchmark uses before you act on it. For pages where visitors often leave, the exit rate and the performance of each landing page usually tell you more.