What is the average time on site?
Average time on site (also known as average session duration) measures how much time the average visitor spends on your website during a single visit.
This measure varies widely based on many factors, including the type of website, what kind of content is on the site, and the audience.
In general, the longer the average session duration, the more your target audience is engaging with your content. A good average session duration suggests that they’re finding your site valuable and worth their time, while a shorter average session duration indicates the opposite.
How is average time on site calculated?
To calculate the average time on site, you need to divide the time that users have spent on your site by the total number of unique sessions. This tells you the average amount of time per session.
Average Time on Site Formula:
Average Time on Site = Total Amount of Time / Total Number of Unique Sessions
For example, if users have spent 500 minutes total on your site over 100 sessions, then the average session duration would be 5 minutes (500 / 100 = 5).
You can get the data you need to calculate the average session duration through website analytics tools such as Google Analytics.
Where do you find the average time on site in Google Analytics?
You can find your website’s average time on site in the Behavior overview report.
To find the info, click through Behavior > Site Content > All Pages report, which shows the Average Time on Page for each page.
What is a good average time on site?
Generally, a longer average session duration is a good thing.
However, the average session duration is just one metric, not the be-all and end-all of success. You need to look at it within the context of other metrics, such as your conversion rate, bounce rate, and the number of pages viewed per session. Which metrics are the most important will depend on the specific goals and needs of your website.
For instance, if you’re trying to build your list and nurture leads, how many visitors sign up will be more important than the average session duration.
That’s why it’s important for website owners to determine their priorities before setting their average session duration goals.
How to improve the average time on site?
There are several ways that you can improve the average time that users spend on your website. Here are a few suggestions:
- Improve load time: It’s vital that your website loads fast. If your website takes a long time to load, visitors will become frustrated and quickly leave.
- Offer engaging, valuable content: You should strive to provide your users with high-quality, informative, and/or entertaining content. Visitors will spend more time on your site if they feel your content is worth it.
- Use internal linking: Linking to other pages on your website can direct visitors to more content they’re interested in, increasing your average session duration.
- Use interactive elements: Games, quizzes, and polls are very engaging. When visitors enjoy the time they spend on your site, they’ll stay longer.
- Personalize your website: Adapting your website to the needs and interests of each individual user will ensure that no one gets frustrated by seeing irrelevant content. Website personalization tools like OptiMonk make it easy to create a more engaging user experience.
