Bounce Rate is a standard user engagement metric used in analytics platforms like GA4, which tracks the percentage of visitors who leave a site after viewing only one page. It is a critical metric for gauging implicit user feedback regarding content satisfaction.
In semantic keyword research, Bounce Rate is highly diagnostic when paired with other metrics like Click-Through Rate (CTR). A high bounce rate coupled with a high CTR suggests a “friction point” in the user journey. This typically indicates that users were initially attracted by the search result title (high CTR) but found that the page content itself did not deliver on the promise or satisfy the query’s underlying intent.
The semantic signal derived from this metric pair suggests an immediate need for Intent Alignment—revisiting the content structure, entities, and attributes to match the expectations of the targeted user personas.