If you’ve ever peeked at your website’s analytics, you’ve likely come across the term bounce rate. It’s one of those metrics that seems simple at first but gets more complicated the more you dig into it. We’re here to break it down for you and discuss whether it still matters in 2025 or if it’s time to move on to more meaningful insights. Let’s dive in!
What is a Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who land on your site and leave without interacting further. “Interaction” could mean clicking a link, filling out a form, switching to another page or anything else that can keep someone on your site. For example, if someone Googles “best coffee in Jacksonville,” and lands on your blog post about the best-hidden gems in Jax, and then immediately leaves, that’s a bounce. But if they stayed, read the entirety of the article and found the information they were looking for without clicking anything, that’s still a bounce. Or at least it used to be…
Before Google Analytics 4 (GA4) there was Universal Analytics (UA). Each has different definitions for bounce rate. For UA, bounce rate was used to measure instances where a user lands on a page of your website and then leaves without performing any other action or navigating to another page on your site. Since GA4 took the place of UA in July 2023, the definition changed entirely. Now, if a session lasts longer than 10 seconds, a user completes a conversion event or visits at least 2 pages, they are classified as engaged. Bounce rate and engagement rate are completely opposites of each other.
Why Bounce Rate Used to Matter
Bounce rate has been around since 2007 and it’s safe to say that web design has drastically changed since then. In the early days of web analytics, bounce rate was seen as a crucial indicator of how engaging your website was.
Is your page too slow?
Is the design clunky or unappealing?
Is your content irrelevant or unhelpful?
The assumption was that a low bounce rate meant your site was doing great and keeping people engaged, and a high bounce rate meant you had some work to do.
Why it Might Not Matter in 2025
Today, the bounce rate is a bit of a gray area. With changes in how users consume content and evolving analytic tools, the metric isn’t as cut-and-dry as it used to be.
User Intent
People visit websites for all sorts of reasons. If someone finds the answer they’re looking for on your page and leaves satisfied, is that really a bad thing? For certain types of content – blog posts, FAQs, etc. – a high bounce rate might actually mean you’ve done your job well.
Analytics Tools are Getting Smarter
GA4 focuses more on engagement rate than bounce rate. The engagement rate provides a clear, more accurate picture of how people are interacting with your site.
Content Consumption
People want quick, actionable information at the snap of their fingers. They’re scanning a page, grabbing what they need and moving on. Forcing users to navigate multiple pages to lower your bounce rate could hurt their experience and your reputation.
However, there are still some cases where bounce rate could still use some attention. For example, for e-commerce sites specifically, if someone lands on your product pages and bounce without acting, you might need to adjust some things.
Bounce rate isn’t the gold standard it once was, but does it still matter? In short, only if it aligns with your broader goals. If you’re struggling with high bounce rates or are unsure of what steps to take next, contact JSK Marketing! We create websites that aren’t just visually appealing but are also optimized for performance, user experience and conversions. Don’t let outdated content or poor functionality hold you back. Get started today!
