The classic definition
A "bounce" is a single-pageview session. Bounce rate = bounced sessions / total sessions. A 60% bounce rate means 6 out of 10 visitors looked at one page and left.
Why GA4 buried bounce rate
Google Analytics 4 replaced bounce rate with engagement rate (the inverse: percentage of sessions that lasted >10 seconds or had >1 pageview or fired a conversion event). The reasoning was that bounce rate punished good single-page experiences — a blog reader who read for 3 minutes then closed the tab was technically a "bounce" but obviously engaged.
When bounce rate still matters
On a marketing landing page, you want low bounce: visitors should keep clicking to convert. On a long blog article or a single-page resource (a tool, a calculator, a glossary entry), bounce rate is meaningless or misleading — the visitor got what they came for and left, which is the success state.
What "normal" looks like by page type
Marketing landing pages: 30-50% is healthy. Blog articles: 70-90% is normal. Tool / calculator pages: 80-95% is normal. Multi-step funnels: under 30% on the first step is the goal.
How BYOViral counts a bounce
BYOViral counts a bounce as a session with exactly one pageview, where the visitor did not fire a custom event. The number is exposed on the per-site overview and visitor-paths reports. Treat it as one signal among several — combine with time-on-page and exit rate before drawing conclusions.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my bounce rate suddenly 90%?
Three common causes: a new traffic source brought casual visitors, a tracking script bug caused the second pageview to not register, or a page redirect lost the session. Check by filtering by traffic source.
Can a high bounce rate hurt SEO?
Indirectly. Google uses dwell-time and click-through signals from the SERP. If visitors bounce back to Google within a few seconds, Google may interpret your result as a poor match. A high bounce that lasts 3 minutes does NOT hurt SEO.
Should I aim for under 50% bounce rate?
Only on multi-page sites with internal-linking funnels. On a single-page blog, 80% is fine.
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