What is bounce rate? Bounce rate is the share of visitors who land on a page and leave without taking a tracked action or visiting another page. A high bounce rate isn’t always bad — sometimes a visitor got exactly what they needed — but it can flag a slow, confusing, or mismatched page.
Is a high bounce rate bad?
Not always. If someone finds your phone number and calls, that counts as a ‘bounce’ but it’s a success. Judge bounce alongside whether the page actually achieved its goal.
What causes a high bounce rate?
- Slow load times
- A page that doesn’t match what the visitor expected
- Confusing layout or no clear next step
- Poor mobile experience
- Intrusive popups
How do I lower bounce rate?
Speed up the page, match content to the visitor’s intent, make the next step obvious, and fix mobile issues. Lowering bounce for its own sake isn’t the goal — guiding more visitors to act is.
Does bounce rate affect SEO?
Not as a direct ranking factor. But the things that cause high bounce — slow, irrelevant or frustrating pages — can hurt rankings indirectly through poor user experience.