Recently, Google added Bounce Rate as a metric in GA4. While many folks are fine with using its inverse, Engagement Rate, to monitor how many people are leaving without engaging, it is nice to be able to present information in a way people are more familiar with.
Unfortunately, because Bounce Rate is so new, it’s not (yet) available through the GA4 Data Studio Connector as a metric for use in Data Studio.
It’s easy, however, to create a Bounce Rate metric using GA4 Engagement Rate data in Data Studio.
Use a Calculated Field for GA4 Bounce Rate in Data Studio
We might not have Bounce Rate built into the GA4 Data Studio connector, but we have its inverse, Engagement Rate.
What do we mean by inverse? Bounce Rate is simply 100% – Engagement Rate.
Because every session that is engaged is not a bounce, we can report on the Bounce Rate by simply making a calculated field that subtracts the Engagement Rate from the number one.
To create a calculated field, click on +Add a field at the bottom right of the screen. On the screen that pops up, give the field an appropriate name (like Bounce Rate). Then enter the formula:
1 – Engagement Rate
as shown in the screenshot below. Note that Engagement Rate will autocomplete as you start typing it, you don’t need to pull it in from the menu on the left.
Now, you can use Bounce Rate in charts on this report.
Formatting Bounce Rate as a Percent
One issue you are likely to run into is that Bounce Rate will show up as a decimal fraction of 1, instead of a percentage, but this is easily fixed. In the Chart Menu’s Metric section, click where it says AUT next to Bounce Rate.
Now, click the drop down arrow for the Type – Number field, then hover over the Numeric option, and finally, click Percent. The Bounce Rate is now displayed as a percent, same as the Engagement Rate.
Feel free to follow the links in the footer of the embedded report above and make a copy for yourself to play with. If you run into any problems or have any questions, please leave a comment on this post and we’ll try to help.
One last word – your Universal Analytics Bounce Rate and GA4 Bounce Rates likely won’t be the same number. Wondering how they’re different? Read this post about Bounce Rate in Google Analytics 4.
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