What is Time on Site?
Alternatively known as session duration, time on site is defined by the total amount of time that a user spends navigating through a website. Time on site is calculated simply by noting the timestamp when a user clicks on a website via a search engine (such as Google or Bing search results) or a link to a website landing page and the timestamp when the user navigates away from the website.
Why Does Time on Site Matter?
The following are some of the primary reasons why the time-on-site metric is considered essential:
- Organic growth: Websites with a longer time on site will receive a higher organic search ranking from Google. You do not have to invest in costly advertisements to get features into the top results once a user has entered a relevant search term.
- User conversion: The best-ranked websites keep their visitors for an average of 3 minutes and 10 seconds. As a result, most businesses are trying to increase their time on-site. The reason is very practical: a user who feels that he or she is entertained or properly informed by a website will be converted to a loyal customer with greater willingness. The same user will also recommend the website to other users, thereby enhancing word of mouth.
- High website traffic: Due to the dispersion of word of mouth, there will inherently be more website traffic, which Google recognizes as a quality website feature. With an appropriate length of stay, your website will continue to rank higher, and user conversions will improve.
However, it should be known that increasing the time on site is not the sole website metric that you should be looking for. A website that is challenging to navigate can also increase the user’s time on site metric that you should be looking for. A website that is challenging to navigate can also increase the user’s time on site. But since the user might need valuable information, he or she will endure the frustration. And unfortunately, Google knows that too.
How can marketers make the most of Time on Site?
Time on site is one of the most important metrics for measuring the health of your website. It is a valuable metric that provides insight into how long your visitors spend on your website and whether or not they are engaged with the content you provide. Optimizing time on site can help you increase customer engagement, reach more people, and generate more revenue.
Additionally, paying attention to the time on site can help you identify potential problems such as slow load times or crashes and areas for improvement, such as page design or improving the user experience. By understanding how people interact with your website and addressing any issues they may have, you can ensure that visitors stay longer while maintaining a good level of engagement.