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Glossary

What Is Bounce Rate?

Bounce rate is a website engagement metric that shows the share of visits ending without a further recorded interaction. A high rate may indicate that a page did not meet the visitor’s intent, although it can also describe a successful visit where the visitor found an answer and left without taking another tracked action.

Quick Facts About Bounce rate

Category

Engagement metric

Used for

Assessing landing-page behaviour

Common confusion

A high rate does not always mean poor performance

Often discussed with

Conversion Rate Optimisation

Key Takeaways About Bounce rate

  • It measures session behaviour, not visitor quality.
  • A high rate needs context from page intent and tracking setup.
  • It is not the same as a failed visit.

How Bounce rate Works

A gavel strikes a keyboard beside an Exit key as a tiny business figure runs away

Bounce rate is calculated from visits that end without another recorded interaction, such as a page view, form submission or tracked event. Analytics platforms apply their own rules to identify these sessions, so the result depends on the tracking configuration as well as visitor behaviour. A page with a clear answer may receive a high rate even when it serves its purpose.

Related glossary terms: Engagement rate, Conversion funnel, Click-through rate.

Conversion Rate Optimisation teams read bounce rate alongside page intent, traffic source and conversion actions. A legal service page may need visitors to enquire, call or begin a form, while an informational article may satisfy a visitor without another page view. Conversion Rate Optimisation examines these different outcomes before suggesting a page change. Engagement rate can provide a related view of visits that show active interaction.

Two coworkers review a report with charts and the heading “Bounce Rate” at a desk by a window

Expert Note

When we review bounce rate, we check the page’s purpose, traffic source and recorded conversion actions together. Our team also tests whether analytics events reflect meaningful behaviour, such as form starts or phone enquiries. This prevents a useful page from being judged on one metric alone.

Bounce rate in Practice: A Real-World Example

A Sydney law firm’s service page may have a high bounce rate because visitors read the available guidance and leave. If enquiry tracking shows that suitable visitors contact the firm from that page, the rate needs to be read alongside those actions.

Related Terms

Engagement rate

Engagement rate is a social media metric that shows how actively people respond to content compared…

Conversion funnel

Conversion funnel is a model that shows how people move from first contact with a legal…

Click-through rate

Click-through rate is a digital advertising metric that shows how often people select an advert after…

UTM parameters

UTM parameters are short tracking labels added to a URL so analytics platforms can identify where…

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