What Is Bounce Rate? — Free Tool
Bounce rate is the share of visits with no second interaction. The formula, how GA4 redefined it as the inverse of engaged sessions, and why social traffic bounces hardest.
The share of visits that ended without a second interaction. Social traffic bounces more than search traffic, so judge it against the channel it came from, not a single site-wide target.
What it is
Bounce rate is the share of visits that ended without a second interaction. Someone arrives, looks, and leaves without clicking anything else. It is a rough read on whether the page matched what the visitor expected.
How it is measured
Single-interaction visits divided by total visits, times 100. Six hundred bounces from a thousand sessions is 60 percent. Which visits count as bounces depends on the tool: GA4 defines bounce rate as the inverse of its engaged session rate, where a session counts as engaged if it runs longer than 10 seconds, triggers a conversion, or includes at least two pageviews.
Commonly misunderstood
Two things. First, the GA4 redefinition means your historical trend line probably breaks at the migration date, and GA4 bounce rates read lower than Universal Analytics ones for the same behaviour, so never compare across the boundary. Second, a bounce is not automatically a failure. A visitor who lands on your opening hours page, reads them, and leaves has been served perfectly. Blog posts and single-answer pages routinely bounce at 80 or 90 percent while doing exactly their job. What matters is the gap between what the post promised and what the page delivered, which is why bounce rate is most useful read next to CTR and conversion rate.
When it matters
Look at bounce rate when CTR is strong but conversions are weak. That combination usually means the landing page is either slow or not what the ad implied.
Related terms
Features
- The bounce rate formula written out, with a worked example
- How GA4's definition differs from Universal Analytics, and why your number changed
- Why social traffic bounces more than search traffic, and what a fair target looks like
- The single-page-site trap: a blog post can bounce at 90 percent and still be doing its job
- A linked conversion rate calculator for the step after the click
Frequently asked questions
What is the bounce rate formula?
Single-interaction visits divided by total visits, times 100. Six hundred bounces from a thousand sessions is 60 percent.
Did GA4 change the definition?
Yes. Universal Analytics counted a bounce as a session with exactly one pageview and no other hit. GA4 defines bounce rate as the inverse of engaged sessions, where a session engages if it lasts over 10 seconds, fires a conversion, or has two or more pageviews. GA4 numbers are therefore usually lower.
What is a normal bounce rate for social traffic?
Higher than you would like. Fifty to seventy percent is common for social referrals, against roughly 40 to 60 percent for organic search, because social visitors arrive mid-scroll rather than mid-task.
Is a high bounce rate always bad?
No. If the page answers the question the visitor came with, such as opening hours or a single blog post, they leave satisfied and it counts as a bounce. Judge bounce rate against the job of the page.
How do I lower bounce rate from social?
Match the landing page to the promise in the post, cut load time, and make the next step visible without scrolling. Most social bounces are either a slow page or a mismatch between the hook and what the page delivers.
