What's a Good Engagement Rate in GA4?
Google Analytics 4 introduced engagement rate to evaluate user behavior more accurately. Initially, engagement rate replaced bounce rate in its new analytics tool, only for bounce rate to enjoy a popular revival after months of vocal demand. Both metrics provide valuable insight into user behavior and the quality of content on specific pages.
Engagement Rate vs. Bounce Rate in GA4
The simplest way to compare these metrics is positive versus negative. Engagement rate measures what users do, while bounce rate measures the share of users who did nothing at all.
What is Engagement Rate?
Engagement rate is a Google Analytics 4 metric measuring the percentage of users interacting with your website or app. Engagement rate can be averaged sitewide or page-by-page to provide a better understanding of content that's more useful or valuable to the user.
Three events calculate engagement rate during any given session.
Session duration: The session must be 10 seconds or more.
Page views: The session must include two pageviews – or more!
Conversions: At least one conversion event triggers during the session
What's a Good Engagement Rate?
Engagement rate varies widely based on the quality of the site, industry, and myriad other factors. Research shows that B2B websites average 63% engagement rate, while B2C sites are higher at 71%. A robust SEO strategy will compare engagement rates over time and page-by-page to improve average engagement rates and increase conversions.
What is Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate is a measure of what users didn't do. It's defined as the percentage of users who leave a website without taking action; no clicks, no interactions. The metric served as the gold standard of measuring user behavior for decades until it was shunted aside in 2023. Bounce rate may be more useful in comparing specific landing pages by channel, especially if you're running paid ads to increase conversions on a particular page or section of your site.
Bounce rates vary by industry, like engagement rate, but perhaps more widely by page content. Bounce rate on blogs are often 85% or higher, but substantially lower on core service and product pages.
Three Ways to Improve Engagement Rate (and Bounce Rate, Too!)
Brands can improve engagement rates in several ways, but here's a quick note: As you work to improve site engagement, remember to account for different acquisition channels. The changes you make to improve engagement from organic search may differ slightly from paid or email, usually by changing content type, page layout, and the strength of your CTA (call to action).
Inverse Relationship
As site traffic increases, engagement rates typically decrease. While this isn't always the case, it makes sense. Reaching a wider audience results in more sessions from less-qualified customers, prospects, or those further up the sales funnel.
The takeaway: Set a benchmark engagement rate by session channel or by content category. If a local bike shop is working to drive traffic to its product catalog, they may set a benchmark of 70% - if engagement falls to 55%, they'll know they're winning traffic for the wrong terms and adjust accordingly.
Know the Path
Evaluate high-performing pages to see what users are doing on those pages and where they go next. Use the path exploration tool in Google Analytics 4 to follow users from high-engagement pages through their customer journey.
The takeaway: Knowing what content is valuable to users can help you introduce similar content across your site and ultimately shorten the journey to conversion.
Dive Deeper
Especially when engagement rates change, look at specific events to see what's really going on. Changes in clicks or conversions can signal changes in user behavior or their position in the sales cycle. For example, we noticed a significant decline in engagement for a real estate client in October 2022. It made sense. Mortgage rates had increased every month since June, ultimately reaching over 7%. The slight decline in sessions indicated lingering interest, but users were less likely to stay on the page or contact the realtor, knowing the numbers didn't make sense for them to buy.
The takeaway: Context is key. In addition to improving page speed and content quality, consider wider factors impacting user behavior.
Stay Engaged with an SEO Specialist
Engagement rate is a valuable metric that improves site performance and makes your digital presence more impactful. Work with an experienced small business marketing expert and double-down digital sales and conversions. Get in touch today; we'd love to buy you a coffee and talk shop!