Bounce Rate.

In Universal Analytics, bounce rate was the percentage of single-page sessions: visits where the user arrived and left without triggering a second pageview or interaction event. A 'bounce' didn't necessarily indicate dissatisfaction; a user might read an entire 2,000-word article and leave satisfied without clicking anything else, which would count as a bounce. In GA4, bounce rate is defined differently: the percentage of sessions that were not 'engaged' (lasted less than 10 seconds, had no conversion event, and had fewer than 2 pageviews).

Interpreting Bounce Rate

Bounce rate should always be interpreted in context. A 90% bounce rate on a contact page is concerning; a 90% bounce rate on a blog post may be entirely acceptable if users are finding the answer they sought and leaving satisfied. Compare bounce rates by: traffic source (organic vs. paid vs. social), device type (mobile typically bounces more), content type, and landing page, to identify where user experience is genuinely failing vs. where high bounce is expected.

Reducing Bounce Rate

Strategies to reduce bounce rate where it indicates genuine disengagement: improve page load speed (slow pages cause immediate exits); ensure content matches the search intent that brought users there; add relevant internal links and CTAs that give users a clear next step; improve mobile experience; and ensure meta descriptions accurately represent page content so visitors aren't disappointed on arrival.