What is Bounce Rate?
TL;DR
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page, without taking any action.
Example
100 people visit your homepage. 60 of them leave without clicking anything.
Your bounce rate is 60%.
What a "bounce" looks like:
- Someone Googles a question, lands on your article, reads it, and closes the tab
- Someone clicks an ad, sees your landing page, and hits the back button
- Someone visits your site, gets confused, and leaves
Bounce rates vary by page type:
| Page Type | Typical Bounce Rate |
|---|---|
| Blog posts | 70-90% |
| Landing pages | 60-90% |
| Service pages | 10-30% |
| E-commerce product pages | 20-45% |
| Homepage | 40-60% |
A high bounce rate isn't always bad. If someone reads your entire blog post and gets their answer, that's a success, even if they bounced.
Explanation
What Causes High Bounce Rates
Slow loading - Users don't wait. If your page takes more than 3 seconds, many will leave.
Poor mobile experience - If your site isn't mobile-friendly, mobile users bounce immediately.
Misleading content - The page doesn't match what they expected from the search result or ad.
Confusing design - They can't figure out what to do or where to find what they need.
No clear next step - They read the page but there's no obvious action to take.
Technical issues - Broken pages, error messages, or elements that don't work.
Bounce Rate vs. Exit Rate
Bounce rate - Percentage of sessions that start and end on the same page (single-page sessions).
Exit rate - Percentage of all pageviews where users left from that page.
Exit rate is normal for every page. Bounce rate specifically measures people who came and left without exploring.
Why It Matters
For Business Owners
Signals problems. A suddenly high bounce rate on an important page means something is wrong: broken functionality, poor messaging, or technical issues.
Affects SEO. While Google hasn't confirmed bounce rate as a ranking factor, user behavior signals matter. If searchers consistently bounce from your page back to search results, Google notices.
Wastes ad spend. If you're paying for ads and visitors bounce immediately, you're paying for nothing.
How to Reduce Bounce Rate
- Speed up your site
- Match content to expectations (from ads, search results)
- Make navigation obvious
- Add clear calls-to-action
- Optimize for mobile
- Improve content quality
- Use engaging visuals and formatting
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