Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page. High bounce rate isn't always bad - if someone finds the answer they need on that page, that's a win.
Why It Matters
Bounce rate is one of the most misunderstood metrics in SEO. A high bounce rate on a blog post might mean your content answered the question perfectly - the user got what they needed and left satisfied. That's not a problem.
But a high bounce rate on a service page, product page, or landing page? That's a red flag. It means people are arriving and leaving without taking the next step. Something is wrong - the content doesn't match their intent, the page loads too slowly, or the design doesn't inspire confidence.
In Practice
Don't look at bounce rate in isolation. Pair it with time on page and scroll depth. A 90% bounce rate with 4 minutes average time on page tells a completely different story than 90% bounce rate with 8 seconds.
Segment by page type. Blog posts will naturally have higher bounce rates than service pages. Compare like with like. And look at bounce rate by traffic source - organic visitors might behave differently than social or referral traffic.
If bounce rate is genuinely too high on important pages, check: page speed, content relevance to the search query, mobile experience, and above-the-fold content.
Related Terms
Glossary
Above the Fold
The visible part of a web page before scrolling - where first impressions happen.
Glossary
Page Speed
How fast your pages load - a confirmed ranking factor that affects conversions too.
Glossary
Search Intent
The reason behind a search query - matching it is more important than matching keywords.
Glossary
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who take a desired action - the metric that actually matters.
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