Bounce rate

Bounce rate is the share of visitors who leave a site after viewing a single page. It sounds like a grade, but it is context-dependent: a blog post that fully answers a question can have a high bounce rate and be a success, while a shop page with the same number is a problem.

Reviewed October 6, 2026. Prices are quoted per project; nothing on this page is a published price list.

What it measures

The proportion of sessions where the visitor viewed one page and left without a second interaction. Analytics tools calculate it slightly differently, so compare like with like — and treat the exact figure as a rough signal, not a verdict.

Why a high number is not always bad

An enquiry page that answers everything in one screen can send the visitor straight to the email button — one page, no bounce, job done. Conversely, a visitor who bounces from a service page may have found nothing they recognised. The page's job defines what the number means.

What to look at instead

The action the page exists for: the conversion rate (calls, bookings, emails sent), plus whether the right queries bring the right visitors in the first place. Search Console impressions and clicks tell you the page is being found; conversions tell you it is working.

When it is a real warning

When traffic that should convert leaves without a trace: the page loaded but said nothing relevant, or it loaded badly — slow, broken on a phone, or unreadable. Those are repair problems, and they show up in our inspection lists.

Questions

What is a good bounce rate?

There is no universal number. Content that fully answers a question can sit high and be successful; service pages should send visitors onward. Judge it against the page's job and your conversions, not a benchmark table.

Does bounce rate affect rankings?

Google has stated it does not use analytics bounce rate as a ranking factor. The underlying experience matters — slow, broken pages rank worse — but the analytics number itself is a diagnostic for you, not a signal to Google.

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