Average length of stay

Dwell time is the amount of time a person spends on a web page after clicking on a link on a SERP-page, but before going to the SERP-clicks back to the results.

You've probably done this many times. It's that brief moment when you evaluate the web page you just clicked on. Either it gave you the answer you wanted right away, or it was such an obvious failure that you clicked right back.

The value of this key figure for a Search Engine is obvious: the more time you spend with the content of a page you clicked on, the higher the probability that this page will fulfill your needs.

That's a generalization, of course, because we could tear any number of holes in that theory, but in the broadest sense it's true. And the opposite is also true: the less time you spend on the site, the more dissatisfied you might be.

But if you're asking about the weather, a quick glance at the page can be quite enough. In such cases, a metric based on dwell time would have to take that into account: short time = satisfaction.

So you see it's not so easy to apply a concept broadly.

But it's a metric that is used and has value in rankings at a certain level.

How important it is as a metric is relative and must be considered in a mix of many factors, so it is not useful to focus on dwell time.

However, it's worth focusing on broader improvements for a website that increase user engagement. It can increase dwell time, but it shouldn't be the only reason you do something.

What is a good average length of stay?

There is no universal answer to the question of what constitutes a good or bad Average length of stay is, because it strongly depends on the type of website and the respective content. Nevertheless, I can give you some guidelines to better estimate the dwell time.

The Average length of stay is the time a user spends on your website before leaving it again. A high dwell time can be an indicator that the content on your website is interesting and relevant to visitors. A low dwell time, on the other hand, can indicate that users are not finding what they are looking for or that the site is not meeting their expectations.

1. Information and blog sites: If your website is an informational site or blog, a longer dwell time is often desired. This means that visitors actually read the articles or information and engage with the content. A Average length of stay of 2-3 minutes can be considered good in this case. However, if the dwell time is significantly less than a minute, this could be a sign that the content is not engaging enough or that users are not finding what they are looking for.
2. E-commerce- and shopping sites: For online stores, the ideal dwell time depends on the complexity of the purchase process and the scope of the offer. A longer dwell time may indicate that users are browsing intensively and looking at different products. However, a shorter dwell time can also be positive if it means that the buying process is simple and fast and users quickly find what they are looking for. In this case, a Average length of stay of 1-2 minutes may be quite acceptable.
3. Landing pages and campaign pages: For landing pages and campaign pages that aim to generate conversions (e.g. sign-ups, downloads, sales), a shorter dwell time can even be positive. This means that the user quickly understands what the page is about and immediately performs the desired action. In such cases, a dwell time of less than a minute can definitely be considered good.

It is important to Average length of stay always in the context of your own website and goals. You should also keep an eye on other metrics besides dwell time, such as bounce rate, pages per session, and conversion rate, to get a comprehensive picture of the user experience on your website.

What the dwell time is NOT

There is a surprising amount of misinformation about dwell time. Often, dwell time is confused with other, completely different key figures and lumped together.

So before we go any further, I want to clarify a few things about what dwell time is not.

Please remember that dwell time is a metric that is used within the Search Engine is used. That's what this article is about - the time a user clicks on a result and how long they stay on the result before going to the SERP returns.

Dwell time is NOT a bounce rate

A bounce occurs when someone views only one page and then leaves your site.

So your bounce rate is the percentage of single page sessions divided by all sessions for your website (or single page).

The people who are jumping off? They do not all come from a SERP.

And even if some of the jumpers have a SERP have come to your website, it does not mean that they have come to this SERP have clicked back. You could have closed the page or navigated directly to another website.

The dwell time is NOT the average time on the page

Dwell time is often confused with the average time spent on the page.

The Average length of stay is exactly that - the average time someone spends on one of your pages.

This user may have arrived at this page via social media, a link on another website, an email, or another source.

The dwell time is NOT the session duration

What about session duration? No dwell time either.

Session duration measures how long someone stays on your website.

If a user's session did not start with a search, it cannot end on the same search results page.

Dwell time is NOT a click-through rate

The organic search click-through rate is the percentage of users who clicked on the link to your website out of the total number of users who clicked on it. SERP have seen.

It is often confused with the length of stay or lumped together. But it should not be.

Dwell time is only about what happens after the click, not the percentage of searchers who click.

Dwell Time is NOT RankBrain

This is a big one and probably the most surprising misconception I still read and hear.

You can learn all about RankBrain here. In addition, Gary Illyes from Google recently explained once again how RankBrain works.

Put simply, Illyes says that. RankBrain uses historical search data to make predictions about previously unknown search queries. RankBrain collects data from users' interactions with search results, not how they interact with a piece of content.

Doesn't that sound like the opposite of dwell time to you? Because it should.

Is everything clear now?

And there's something else that dwell time is not: a publicly available metric that you can measure with a third-party tool. Only the search engines have access to the dwell time.

Hopefully we're all in agreement now on what the dwell time is and isn't.

When does dwell time become a visit?

Technically, every click is a visit. But let's face it... not all visits are the same.

You alone will know which version of a metric is most important for your business, but it's safe to say that for most businesses, a dwell time of one second (or less) is less than ideal.

At the very least, we can safely say that every company wants people to engage with them for longer.

It may be that your analytics package captures these operations differently, but it's worth sorting your visits by the amount of time a visitor has spent with you.

Once you've optimized your conversion path, you'll know how long a transaction takes on average, and then you can easily track what a valuable visit looks like.

There are a number of ways to perform such an analysis, but regardless of the method, it is definitely worth it.

How can you influence the dwell time?

There is no patent remedy with which you can positively influence the dwell time. However, there are cases in which a certain measure does have an effect.

By that, I mean you should focus on improving the overall user experience and the delivery of useful content on your pages.

Do you still do auto-roll videos when a user visits your website? Yes, users don't like that.

Don't hide the answers to questions at the bottom of a page under a giant header image.

Make sure the content is easy to find and obvious so it's the first thing a visitor sees when they reach your site.

Have you ever wondered why Google and Bing give instructions for "above the fold" and vs. Pop-ups etc. give?

One reason is that they want to improve the user experience.

The search engines know that when a searcher lands on a web page that is listed in the search results, and then returns to the search results almost immediately, there is an increased likelihood that the searcher will return to the Search Engine blames.

If this pattern is repeated several times, the frustration of the seeker towards the Search Engine only bigger.

Do not stick too much to the dwell time

Basically, dwell time is a metric you should know, but you're already taking the right steps to influence it as positively as possible. If you're having trouble making your site mobile-friendly, you need to change that.

Page load speed is still slow? Fix it.

If you're worried about customers leaving your site as soon as they get the one piece of information they think they need, you need to change that - work on conversion optimization.

In short, you need to work on the age-old goal of being "sticky."

Summary

Advantages

Average length of stayis a very helpful metric that marketers and analysts use to assess the success of a website or app. It provides insight into the frequency and length of use of a product or service. In addition, it can be a meaningful measure of customer satisfaction.

Disadvantages

The main drawback of dwell time is that it is not able to capture the deeper meaning of the customer experience. Other factors such as aesthetic quality, ease of use, and customer service can also have an impact on a customer's experience, but can only be measured to a very limited extent through total dwell time.

Use cases

Average length of stayis a very useful metric that is very commonly used by marketers and analysts to estimate the success of a website or app. It can also be used to measure the discovery andCustomer Journeyof a customer to see how long it takes them to make a decision.

Examples

An example of the use of dwell time is the analysis of dwell time on a web store website. A company can use theAverage length of staymeasure on different pages of the website to see how long a user stays on a page on average and how long it takes them to complete a purchase.

Another example is the analysis of dwell time on an app. A company can analyze theAverage length of staymeasure on different pages of the app to see how long a user stays on a page on average and how long it takes them to complete a certain task.

Conclusion

Average length of stayis a very helpful metric that marketers and analysts use to measure the success of a website or app. It can also be used to measure the discovery andCustomer Journeyof a customer. Although it is a very useful measure, it cannot capture the deeper meaning of the customer experience.