What’s the Difference Between Bounce Rate and Engagement Rate?
In Universal Analytics, bounce rate was defined as the percentage of single-page sessions where no interaction occurred — essentially when users landed on your site and then left without further engagement. GA4, however, focuses on the engagement rate instead. Engagement rate measures how many users actively interact with your site. A session is considered engaged if it lasts longer than 10 seconds, results in at least one conversion event, or involves multiple page views.
This shift reflects Google’s intent to prioritize deeper insights into user behavior. Rather than focusing solely on users who leave quickly (bounce), GA4 encourages you to look at those who stay and engage.
How to Find Bounce Rate in GA4
Checking bounce rate in GA4 is easy when using the Exploration tool, which lets you customize reports to your needs. Here’s how to do it step-by-step:
1. Create a Blank Exploration Report
Head to Explore in GA4 and start a blank report. We’ve covered this in detail in our GA4 Exploration Guide, but it’s a powerful tool for creating tailored views.
2. Add a Dimension
Choose a dimension, like Page Location, to see bounce rates for specific pages. You can also select other dimensions depending on what insights you need.
.png)
3. Add the Bounce Rate Metric
Under metrics, search for and add Bounce Rate. You can add more metrics, such as Impressions, to see where to focus your attention.
.png)
4. Customize with Additional Dimensions
You can add extra dimensions like Source/Medium to understand bounce rates from different traffic sources. For example, you might discover that organic traffic from Google has a higher bounce rate than paid traffic. Dive deeper by adding Campaign as a dimension to see which marketing efforts are performing best and where improvements are needed.
With Exploration, you have the flexibility to modify and refine reports based on what you want to investigate. This customization allows you to see patterns, such as poorly targeted ads with high bounce rates, and adjust strategies accordingly.
The Advantages of Engagement Rate Over Bounce Rate
GA4's decision to replace bounce rate with engagement rate is actually a more meaningful way of assessing user activity. Bounce rate in UA could be a misleading metric, especially for single-page websites or blogs where users might find what they need on one page without interacting further. In these cases, a high bounce rate didn’t necessarily mean poor performance.
Engagement rate in GA4 offers a more nuanced understanding by counting sessions that last longer than 10 seconds or include key interactions. This metric better reflects how users actually engage with your content, making it a more reliable measure of user interest.
Additional Ways to Measure User Activity in GA4
While engagement rate is the primary replacement for bounce rate, GA4 also introduces a range of new events and signals that help you understand user behavior:
- Scroll Depth: Track how far down a page a user scrolls, indicating engagement with your content.
- Outbound Clicks: Measure when users click links leading them to another website, giving insight into your audience's interests.
- Video Plays: For sites featuring videos, you can track when a user plays or interacts with a video, adding more depth to your engagement data.
Using Engagement Metrics to Improve Your Site
Now that GA4 emphasizes engagement, it's crucial to focus on improving these metrics. Here are some tips to increase engagement and reduce your bounce rate:
- Improve Site Speed: A slow site can frustrate users and increase bounce rates. Optimizing page load times is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement.
- Use Clear Calls to Action (CTAs): Encourage users to interact with your site by placing well-defined CTAs that guide them to the next step.
- Create Interactive Content: Offering engaging, interactive elements like videos, quizzes, or downloads can keep users on your site longer.
- Optimize for Mobile: With more users browsing on mobile, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly is crucial for reducing bounce rate and increasing engagement.
