Overview
This article explains the definitions of the Bounce and Visit metrics. These metrics are available in Real User Monitoring, where a JavaScript tag is placed in the head tag of a website to gather timing data provided by the Navigation Timing API.
Definitions and Examples
Visit: A visit can be interpreted as any single session of activity by an individual on a website. After thirty minutes of inactivity, a session is considered closed. If after thirty minutes of inactivity the user access the webpage again, it is considered the start of a new visit. A user may view one or multiple pages on the website during a single visit.
Bounce: A bounce is a special case of visit, where a user visits a site and doesn’t subsequently navigate to any other pages within it. In other words, a bounce is any visit that involves exactly one pageview.
Bounce Examples:
- Visitor accesses a single page on a site and then clicks the back button
- Visitor accesses a single page on a site and then shuts the browser
- Visitor accesses a single page on a site and then the browser is inactive for 30+ minutes
Please Note:
- # Bounces may have a collection delay, because thirty minutes of inactivity must pass before a visit can be deemed a bounce. Therefore accurate bounce data may not appear in charts for the most recent thirty minutes. We recommend only relying on bounce metrics for time periods more than thirty minutes prior to the current time.
2. Pages/Visit data can change over time but only a negligible amount.
Please feel free to reach out to Catchpoint Support (support@catchpoint.com) if you have any questions.