What Is the Average Time Spent On a Website? [+ How to Improve It]
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 85% of Americans say they go online on a daily basis, with 31% reporting that they go online “almost constantly.”
With people spending more time online than ever before, it’s important that your website is optimized for visitors to browse and stick around. But longer isn’t necessarily better. You want visitors to stay on your website because they’re enjoying the content and experience — not because they can’t find the information that they’re looking for or can’t complete a desired action, like making a purchase.
In this post, we’ll cover what a “good” average time on page and average session duration benchmark is, and how to improve these metrics on your website.
Average Time On Page Benchmark
According to Contentsquare’s 2021 Digital Experience Benchmark report, the average time on page across all industries is 54 seconds. While you can use that as a benchmark, meeting it doesn’t necessarily mean your average time on page is optimal.
Like page views, bounce rate, and other website metrics, average time on page is contextual. What’s “good” depends on the type of website you have, the industry you’re in, and the web page you’re tracking, among many other factors.
For example, in their 2021 Digital Experience Benchmark report, Contentsquare analyzed data
from over 20 billion user sessions from across the globe. They were able to track average time on page across 10 industries, and found major differences.
B2B, for example, had the highest average time spent on page with 1.37 minutes. This was at least 20 seconds higher than the other industries. The industries on the other end of the spectrum were grocery and energy, with an average time spent per page of 44 seconds. This gap emphasizes the importance of using an average time on page benchmark that’s specific to your industry.
A “good” average time on page also depends on the type of content. For example, you ideally want visitors spending more time on your product pages and blog posts. In fact, in a survey by Databox, 45% of respondents said that the average time on page for their blog posts is 3-5 minutes. A higher time on page indicates that the content is relevant, easy to read and understand, and targeted at the right audience.
On landing and checkout pages, however, higher time on page could mean that there are obstacles to conversion. The content, CTAs, or form might be confusing, for example.
Average Time on Page Google Analytics
Google Analytics is one of the most widely used tools to measure average time on page, among other performance metrics. It’s therefore important to explain how Google Analytics calculates this metric.
Google Analytics tracks average time on page by measuring the difference between the timestamps of hits. That means if a user lands on a web page and then closes their browser window or tab, or types another URL …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
