A bounce rate of 26-40 percent is considered to be exceptional, whereas a bounce rate of around 50 percent is still considered good. However, as in most things in digital marketing, to truly understand what a good bounce rate for your specific case is, this initial answer needs to be further examined through the lenses of:
Before we dive in, let’s start with some terminology.
What is a “bounce rate”?
When referring to website or blog traffic, bounce rate is a metric that measures the percentage of visitors who leave the website after only viewing one page—more specifically, visitors who leave the page without interacting with it.
What is an “exit rate”?
Exit rate is a metric that measures the percentage of visitors who leave the website on this page, where this was the last page view in their session on the website.
For more definitions of marketing terms including “bounce rate,” “exit rate,” “session,” and more, check out our blog article “The Ultimate Email Marketing Glossary.”
Examining both bounce rates and exit rates is important to understand how you can optimize your website and increase conversions. In this blog, we will primarily focus on bounce rates but ultimately both metrics play a role and should be analyzed together.
What causes a high bounce rate?
Many factors can contribute to a high bounce rate, both technical and on-page (or content-related). Some common causes include:
- Poor-quality content or irrelevant content to the specific persona
- Technical issues (e.g., page errors, slow loading, incorrect tracking)
- Poor user experience
How do you reduce bounce rate?
Reducing your bounce rate starts with identifying what the root cause is. If your content doesn’t meet your audience’s expectations, refreshing that content is likely a solid bet. If the issue is more complex—for example, the landing page isn’t mobile-friendly—a large intervention such as a website design refresh may be in order. By addressing the issues causing a high bounce rate, website owners can improve their website's performance and see higher user engagement.
The right way to reduce your bounce rate on the page in question is going to depend on your root cause. You can identify good bounce rate reduction strategies by analyzing your bounce rate data by industry, device type, and origin source. Check out some of the ways to lower bounce rates and increase conversion rates for your blog in this article, or read this article for six ways to lower your website’s bounce rate!
What are good bounce rates by industry?
Bounce rates vary greatly by industry. Refer to the table below from CXL for an overview of average bounce rates.
| Industry |
Bounce Rate % |
| Food & drink |
65.52% |
| Science |
62.24% |
| Reference |
59.57% |
| People & society |
58.75% |
| Pet & animals |
57.93% |
| News |
56.52% |
| Arts & entertainment |
56.04% |
| Books & literature |
55.86% |
| Beauty & fitness |
55.73% |
| Home & garden |
55.06% |
| Computers & electronics |
55.54% |
| Hobbies & leisure |
54.05% |
| Internet |
53.59% |
| Autos & Vehicles |
51.96% |
| Finance |
51.71% |
| Sports |
51.12% |
| Travel |
50.65% |
| Business & industrials |
50.59% |
| Jobs & education |
49.34% |
| Online communities |
46.98% |
| Games |
46.70% |
| Shopping |
45.68% |
| Real estate |
44.50% |
What are good bounce rates by device type?
It is not atypical for bounce rates to vary by device type as well. When assessing the bounce rate on your page, take into account that all industries observed a higher bounce rate on mobile when compared to tablet and the lowest bounce rate on desktop.
What are good bounce rates by Origin Source?
Last but not least: Looking at page traffic and bounce rates by origin source can impact the potential solutions you elect to implement to reduce bounce rates. Average bounce rates by origin source are in the table below:
| Origin Source |
Bounce Rate % |
| Social |
54% |
| Direct |
49.90% |
| Paid search |
44.10% |
| Organic search |
43.60% |
| Referral |
37.50% |
| Email |
35.20% |
Why is bounce rate important?
Both bounce rate and exit rate are important to understanding how your website and content are performing. Reducing bounce rate and exit rate is a great strategy to target improving your website, blog, or landing page conversion rate.
A one-size-fits-all approach is rarely the right choice, and making sure that the content is tailored to your personas is a great place to start. Check out this resource on mapping content for your buyer personas, and work toward reducing your bounce rate with the tips inside!
