Time Is On Your Site

Let’s consider one of today’s most-misunderstood Web metrics:  Average Time on Site.
First, a definition: Average Time on Site is the average of the time that your visitors spend perusing the pages of your Web site.
Simple enough.
But Average Time on Site can tell you many things about what your prospects are looking for – or what they can’t find – on your Web site.
First, consider how you can increase your Average Time on Site.
Home improvement companies that sell a single product typically run Web sites with fewer pages. With less content to review, it’s likely that their prospects will spend less time on average on their Web sites.
Home improvement companies offering several products – and presenting more content on their Web sites – will see a higher Average Time on Site. Their visitors may be interested in more than a single product…or may be inclined to read more pages once they arrive on these Web sites.
The key to getting homeowners to spend time on your Web site is having lots of good content that causes them to stick around.  Good examples are articles, blogs and videos.  The more material you offer, the more time your visitors will spend reviewing it.
That’s the good news. The danger comes about in focusing too intently on increasing Average Time on Site.
Many Web site visitors are not at the point of making a decision to purchase one of your products. They’re there to contact you — by either submitting a Web form or finding out your phone number. This is common behavior among Web visitors, and becoming more so with the continuing demise of the Yellow Pages.
Yet many home improvement companies mistakenly de-emphasize their contact information, with the intention of encouraging their visitors to spend more time on their Web sites.  Taking your phone number off of every page and placing it on your Contact Us page will have the effect of increasing your Average Time on Site by several seconds.
Unfortunately, that may well be several seconds of homeowners’ frustration, as they search for how to best contact you.
In summary, Average Time on Site is an interesting measure of what homeowners are doing on your Web site.  However, it’s only a measure. Don’t work to maximize Average Time on Site to the detriment of other factors, such as facilitating contacts from homeowners.
Making your Web site informative and user-friendly is always better than simply relying on a single Web site metric.