How to Reduce Bounce Rate and Boost Conversions with CRO Strategies

Rejection is a very strong word and carries with it a negative connotation. Nobody likes to have their image or service associated with it, after all, this often means that what you offer is not pleasant. However, despite being so avoided, this term is more common than one imagines within the business world.

This is due to the fact that not every professional knows how to position their offers of products and/or services efficiently, because of this, the rejection rate expressed by customers, consumers or even by visitors within a website page can end up being high. And it is specifically about this last case that we are going to deal with in this post. After all, how do you make a visitor fulfill one of the actions you want within your pages?

What you will learn:

• About the bounce rate
• Best practices to reduce the bounce rate
• CRO Marketing
• Adjust the readability of your texts
• The fewer buttons, the better
• High site speed
• Conclusion

To know all about it, keep reading with us!

About the bounce rate

Rejection is exactly what we want to avoid in our lives, right? And one of the best ways to do that is by understanding how to measure this attribute. But this word can have slightly different meanings, according to the context in which it is inserted.

For Google, for example, a bounce is a single page session on your site, which means that what they found there didn't feel good enough to continue and didn't spark the interest they needed to access other of their pages. In this way, understanding why a visitor did not stay on your site is fundamental to measuring their rejection.

For the same Google, this rejection is considered one of the main factors for a poor performance of its SEO, and this, consequently, decreases the website traffic. Therefore, within the strategies of the marketing world, there is a metric called bounce rate, which literally means bounce rate. It is to her that you must look if you want to seek that understanding. Yes indeed, it is a scary metric, but the more you are aware of it, the less likely you are to lose customers or potential customers to your business. After all, if you don't even know it exists, there probably won't be any attitude towards your improvement. 

Bounce rate isn't used directly as a Google ranking factor. It's an analytical signal for understanding engagement and intent, not an algorithmic criterion. Google itself describes "bounce rate in GA4" as the inverse of engagement rate (non-engaged sessions). Therefore, use bounce rate as a diagnostic of the experience and the quality of the match between intent and content, not as a ranking KPI. This distinction helps prioritize hypotheses and CRO tests focused on engagement and relevance, which tend to correlate better with organic growth.

And speaking of improving, that's what we're looking for. Seeking to increase the conversion rate of your website pages is essential to reduce the bounce rate. This is because they are inversely proportional metrics, so, logically, the greater the number of visitors who perform the desired actions, the more interesting your pages are for those who are passing by, consequently, the greater the chances of your other pages receiving clicks and sessions.

In GA4, the definition has changed: bounce rate is the percentage of unengaged sessions. Engaged sessions are those lasting ≥ 10 seconds, with ≥ 2 page/screen views, or with a conversion event. Therefore, in GA4, bounce rate is simply the inverse of engagement rate. In practice, tracking engagement rate alongside relevant events tends to provide a more useful reading for content and UX optimizations than looking at bounce alone.

Once you understand the concepts and how to calculate this rate, let's get down to business: how to decrease the bounce rate and increase conversions!

Best practices to reduce the bounce rate

As a way to reduce the negative impacts that your pages may be causing to your visitors, there are practical solutions based on specific actions that you can — and should — implement within your strategies to try to reverse the situation , bringing growth where it really should be: in your conversion rate. Check out some of them:

CRO Marketing

The CRO or Conversion Rate Optimization is a set of practices that, precisely, aims to  optimize the conversion rate of your pages, that is, to make more visitors perform a desired action within your pages, such as workflow automation that delivers relevant content to them. 

For reference, recent reports indicate that the average ecommerce conversion rate is typically around 2.5% – 3%, varying significantly by niche, device, and traffic source. Furthermore, analyses for 2025 show an annual decline in conversion rates across several sectors, reinforcing the importance of continuous experimentation (A/B, copy, UX, and performance). Prioritizing hypotheses that impact engagement and time to action typically yields consistent gains.

The CRO is able to analyze and identify, through appropriate software and metrics analysis tools, which points on your website have been undermining your results and develop actions that aim to solve these conversion bottlenecks. Among these actions are, for example, the use of heat maps, which show exactly where your visitors are moving their cursors and making clicks. 

Another common and recommended practice within a CRO strategy is the use of A/B tests, in which it is possible to launch two capture page options to your visitors, with different stimuli, so that you can analyze which one performs better.

At the end of the day, the role of the CRO professional is to improve the user experience so that they can feel comfortable on your pages and have a more fluid journey within them and towards the desired action.

Read too:

• The 6 best tips on how to make a communication ruler!
• 6 Buyer’s Journey Insights in Analytics Strategies;
• What is Inbound Marketing and how to prospect?

Adjust the readability of your texts

Another very important point to emphasize is the way your texts are presented to the user.

You may not know it, but long blocks of text tire the reader. As much as your content is excellent and has a perfect copy, if the text is not facilitated, it is very possible that the visitor to your page will not stay within it.

Let's bring an analogy: what do you think is scarier for someone who is not in the habit of reading: choosing 5 100 page books or a 500 page book?

Probably, when choosing their reading, this person opts for a 100-page book whose end can be accessed in the short term, generating a sense of progress that makes them go to the next book more motivated.

Text blocks work in the same way. If the reader cannot see an end in sight, his attention is exhausted, and you may lose him over this simple detail. So focus on publishing! 

Make use of bullet targeting, numbered lists, subheadings and keyword bolding.

The fewer buttons, the better

The use of different buttons within the same page can cause the visitor's attention to be divided. Therefore, the ideal is to try to be as clear and objective as possible: choose an CTA (call to action) for your button, position it strategically and let it act alone. Your chances of conversion become much higher with this little practice.

High site speed

Pages that take a long time to load are sure to make the visitor lose patience. If he, with all his good will, chooses your page as a solution to his doubt, nothing is more fair than delivering him a good experience. So, since the loading time of your pages matters, ensure your website speeds well and your chances of winning a conversion will increase.

Since March 2024, INP (Interaction to Next Paint) has replaced FID as the Core Web Vitals metric. INP measures perceived responsiveness throughout the visit, and pages with poor INP tend to generate more friction and abandonment. Optimizations such as reducing long tasks in the main thread, deferring non-critical JavaScript, and prioritizing interactions above the fold help reduce INP and, therefore, improve engagement and conversions. Good experience metrics don't guarantee rankings by themselves, but they align your site with what Google seeks to reward.

Conclusion

The road to keeping visitors to your website pages doesn't have to be complicated. While paid ad strategies like remarketing can help bring traffic back to your site, using some of these best practices we’ve presented can be enough for your results to consistently improve, thus lowering your bounce rate and leading to - you to achieve the goal of increasing conversions.

Key learnings about bounce rate and how to reduce it: The bounce rate represents sessions where visitors leave without further interaction, signaling engagement or content alignment issues. In Google Analytics 4, it is defined as the inverse of the engagement rate and should be seen as a diagnostic of user experience rather than a ranking factor. To reduce it, best practices include applying CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) strategies, improving text readability with short and scannable blocks, using clear CTAs without overwhelming buttons, ensuring fast site speed, and running A/B tests to validate hypotheses. These actions enhance the user journey, increase conversion rates, and deliver stronger results in digital marketing.

Want to understand more about how to improve your conversion rate? Then take a look at CRO content in marketing: 4 benefits to apply to your business. We are sure you will be satisfied!

How to Reduce Bounce Rate and Increase Conversions in Digital Marketing

What is bounce rate in digital marketing?

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who land on a page of your site and leave without interacting further. In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), bounce rate is defined as the inverse of the engagement rate, which considers a session engaged if it lasts at least 10 seconds, includes two or more page views, or triggers a conversion event. While bounce rate itself is not a direct Google ranking factor, it is an important diagnostic metric for user experience and intent alignment. Monitoring it helps detect friction points, evaluate relevance, and optimize the visitor journey.

Why does a high bounce rate hurt your digital strategy?

A high bounce rate means visitors are not finding enough value to continue browsing, which can signal that the content is misaligned with their intent or that the experience is frustrating. Although Google doesn’t use bounce rate as a direct ranking factor, poor engagement indirectly reduces organic growth by lowering trust signals. Practically speaking, a high bounce rate reflects wasted investment in SEO, content, and paid traffic, since the audience leaves without converting into leads or customers.

How can you reduce bounce rate on websites and landing pages?

To reduce bounce rate, focus on improving both content relevance and user experience (UX). Some key strategies include:

• CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization): run A/B tests, use heatmaps, and refine layout and copy to increase conversion rates.

• Readable content: break text into short paragraphs, use subheadings, bullets, and highlight keywords for scannability.

• Clear CTAs: avoid multiple competing buttons; use one strong, well-placed call to action.

• Site speed optimization: fast-loading pages reduce frustration; optimize JavaScript, images, and INP (Interaction to Next Paint) metrics.
  Together, these actions reduce friction, keep users engaged, and increase the likelihood of conversions.

What is the connection between bounce rate and conversion rate?

Bounce rate and conversion rate are inversely related. The more visitors complete a desired action—such as filling out a form, downloading content, or making a purchase—the lower the bounce rate tends to be. By optimizing landing pages, checkouts, and high-intent content, you guide users to take action, which naturally reduces abandonment. This makes conversion rate optimization a direct way to improve bounce performance.

What CRO practices improve engagement and conversions?

Effective CRO practices include:

• Mapping user journeys to identify and remove barriers.

• Running A/B tests to validate hypotheses on layout, copy, and CTAs.

• Using heatmaps to track visitor behavior and areas of attention.

• Refining content and CTAs based on engagement data.

• Tracking GA4 engagement metrics instead of relying solely on bounce rate.
  These practices help align pages with user expectations and consistently improve engagement and conversion performance across digital assets.

Why does website speed affect bounce rate?

Website speed is a critical factor for engagement. Slow-loading pages drive abandonment, especially on mobile. Since March 2024, INP (Interaction to Next Paint) replaced FID in Google’s Core Web Vitals, measuring how responsive a page feels during user interactions. Poor INP scores lead to higher friction and bounce. Optimizations like reducing main thread tasks, deferring non-critical scripts, and prioritizing above-the-fold interactions improve responsiveness, enhance user experience, and increase conversion potential.