Bounce rate measures single-page sessions where a visitor lands on your site and leaves without clicking to another page or triggering any interaction events. In SEO terms, it's a behavioral signal that suggests whether your content delivered what the searcher expected. A high bounce rate (70-90%) typically signals one of three problems: your content doesn't match search intent, the page experience is poor (slow load, intrusive ads, confusing layout), or your internal linking is weak. For informational queries, a 65-75% bounce rate is normal because users got their answer and left. For commercial or transactional pages, anything above 60% deserves investigation. Google doesn't use bounce rate as a direct ranking factor—they've confirmed this repeatedly—but the underlying user behaviors absolutely matter. If users consistently hit the back button within seconds (pogosticking), that's a strong dwell-time signal that your page wasn't relevant. Core Web Vitals and engagement metrics captured through Chrome and Search Console give Google better data than old-school bounce rate anyway. What actually matters for SEO: - Time on page combined with bounce rate tells the real story - Scroll depth and click-through to other pages shows engagement - Pages with clear next steps (related posts, product links, contact forms) naturally reduce bounces - Mobile bounce rates run 10-20 points higher than desktop due to smaller screens and easier accidental clicks At Ottawa SEO, we stopped obsessing over bounce rate around 2019. We focus on engaged sessions (15+ seconds with scroll or click), conversion assists, and whether organic traffic from specific keywords actually converts. A blog post with 80% bounce rate that generates qualified leads through a single well-placed CTA beats a 40% bounce rate page where users just wander aimlessly. The exception: if bounce rate suddenly spikes on previously stable pages, that's a diagnostic flag for technical issues, content decay, or SERP competition changes. Use it as a health monitor, not a primary KPI.