What is PLS by bounce type
PLS by bounce type breaks down perceived load speed based on how users exited your site — either through a soft bounce or a hard bounce.
Hard bounce: The user left without any interaction (no scroll, click, or engagement).
Soft bounce: The user interacted with the page (e.g. clicked or scrolled), but still exited without continuing their journey.
By comparing PLS between these two bounce types, you can uncover whether perceived slowness might be contributing to user drop-off — and whether a faster visual experience could turn bounce into engagement.
Healthy PLS by bounce type sample
Should you worry
A healthy chart shows low PLS values for both soft and hard bounces. This indicates users quickly see enough meaningful content to form an impression, even if they choose to leave. If both bounce types are fast, performance likely isn’t the cause of exits.
Unhealthy PLS by bounce type sample
An unhealthy pattern reveals high PLS values for hard bounces — suggesting users didn’t even give the site a chance to render. These sessions often correlate with poor Core Web Vitals, weak visual loading strategy, or device/network mismatches.
In soft bounces, elevated PLS still matters: users may try to engage but give up when the site feels sluggish.
Resolving unhealthy PLS by bounce type
Go-to action plan to resolve an unhealthy PLS by bounce type:
Ask Uxi to analyze your PLS by bounce type and suggest improvements.
Use Filters to narrow down which devices, pages, or networks are most affected.
Simulate LCP of the suspected lens to see if fixing it will resolve the PLS by bounce type. If yes, this is where the resolution focus should be.
Use an automated optimization tool like Navigation AI to improve your PLS by bounce type.
Once you’ve improved PLS, set an alert to be the first to know if it starts worsening again.
Try it yourself
Discover how your website performs with real user data.