# Bounce rate

Category: [Analytics & Measurement](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/analytics-measurement/) › [Web analytics & metrics](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/analytics-measurement/web-analytics-metrics/)

**Bounce rate** is the share of visits to a website that end without engagement. In Google Analytics 4 it is the percentage of sessions that were not engaged, and it is the inverse of the engagement rate.

## How is bounce rate calculated?

GA4 counts a session as engaged when it lasts longer than 10 seconds, contains a key event, or has at least two page or screen views. A session that meets none of these is a bounce.

```
Bounce rate = non-engaged sessions / all sessions × 100
```

Universal Analytics used a different rule. There, a bounce was a session that triggered only a single request to the Analytics server, such as a visit to one page. Universal Analytics no longer processes data in standard properties since July 1, 2023, so figures from the two systems should not be compared.

## What does it mean for SEO?

A high bounce rate on a page with many organic visits can point to a mismatch between the search intent and the page, a misleading title or snippet, or a slow or broken page. These are reasons to investigate, since the rate alone does not tell you the cause. Pages that answer a question in one view, such as opening hours, may bounce at high rates while serving the visitor well.

Google's overview of its ranking systems does not list bounce rate or other engagement metrics as a signal. Treat it as a diagnostic measure for your own pages.

## Example

A guide receives 4,000 organic sessions in a month, and 1,600 of them are not engaged. The bounce rate is 40 percent and the engagement rate is 60 percent. Adding a link to a related page near the top raises the share of sessions with two page views.

## FAQ

**Is a 70% bounce rate good?**
There is no fixed good value. It depends on the page type, the tool's definition and the visitor's goal. Compare a page with its own history and with similar pages on the same site.

**What is the difference between bounce rate and exit rate?**
Bounce rate relates to sessions in which a visitor did not engage. Exit rate shows from which page visitors leave, regardless of how many pages they saw.

## Related terms

- [Click-through rate (CTR)](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/click-through-rate/index.md)
- [Engagement rate](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/engagement-rate/index.md)
- [Conversion rate](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/conversion-rate/index.md)
- [Sessions](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/sessions/index.md)
- [Pogo-sticking](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/pogo-sticking/index.md)

## Sources

- [[GA4] Engagement rate and bounce rate – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12195621?hl=en)
- [[UA] Bounce rate [Legacy] – Analytics Help](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1009409?hl=en)
- [What Is Bounce Rate and 6 Ways to Improve It – AccuRanker (secondary)](https://www.accuranker.com/blog/what-is-bounce-rate-and-6-ways-to-improve-it/)
- [Bounce rate – SEOZoom (secondary)](https://www.seozoom.com/blog/bounce-rate-rebound-frequency/)
- [What's a Good Bounce Rate? – Independent Analytics (secondary)](https://independentwp.com/blog/whats-a-good-bounce-rate/)
- [Guide to Google Search ranking systems – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/bounce-rate/