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6 Ways to Get Visitors to Spend More Time on Your Website and Why It Matters

You just have a few seconds to get visitors interested in your offer once they land on your website. It will be tough to keep their attention if you don’t grab it in the first few seconds. And that’s 0.05 seconds, to be exact, according to Sweor.com. So if you don’t provoke their interest in those seconds, it will be challenging to get them to spend more time on your website.

The time visitors spend on your site indicates how they feel about their experience there.

To be successful, your website must convince visitors to stick around and give them confidence that you have the solution they’ve been looking for.

A user’s average time on a website is related to the average time on a particular page. Calls to action, or CTAs, are essential to lowering website bounce rates and boosting users’ average time spent on each page. The goal is to reduce the bounce rate on specific pages of your website and increase the average time spent on the site by visitors. The average time a visitor spends on a page is an essential metric for understanding how to keep them on your site for longer.

How can I get people to spend more time and stay on my website for longer?

1. Put the most important information first.

There are creases in your website design that your visitors won’t see (unless they have access to your website as an editor). One helpful piece of advice is to put important information “above the fold.” The person searching wants the answer, so they click through the results. One such query may be “why is my lawn dying?” for which they might be looking for an answer. There shouldn’t be any scrolling required to find the solution once they reach your article. The user knows they are at the right spot to find assistance and answers because of the description provided above the fold (before scrolling).

2. Include multimedia (text, video, audio).

Including media like photos and movies on your website will keep visitors there for much longer. Images are a great way to give your message some background. Videos are fantastic for showing off a feature or establishing trustworthiness. The best of them can be difficult on the eyes, but they’re so exciting and fun to play with that they’re quickly replacing written material as the preferred medium. They significantly impact the amount of time users spend on a site and the level of interaction they have with the site.

3. Decrease load time via optimizing pictures, decreasing redirects, and compressing data.

People use various measures in Google Analytics to assess the performance of their content, but video playtime consistently ranks highest. It’s okay to come to us with your questions. Our research shows that including videos on your website can significantly increase user engagement. If you know what you’re doing, video can be a fantastic method to keep your viewers interested.

At first glance, “There’s no denying that lengthier videos increase a page’s average time spent by visitors. It’s not that complicated!” What if I told you that, surprise, surprise, short films also encourage people to stick around for longer on your page? As can be seen in this brief video uploaded to YouTube.

Let’s not overlook the power of sound, which can be used to convey a more extensive message or provide an alternative manner to take in your material. Extraordinary proof of this fact accounts for the podcast’s rising popularity and demand.

4. Make use of in-content links

Use internal links (links that go to other pages on your site) rather than external links (links that take readers offsite) when adding links for more information to your text-based content. It lessens the likelihood that interested visitors will abandon your site.

Keep in mind the importance of linking to other content on your site. When discussing a topic online, it’s common to have more resources available on your site. You can help your reader find more information they might find useful by including internal links within your text. It’s helpful for search engine optimization and for having people spend more time on your site. You’re doing a double kill with one stone!

5. Address the reader by name.

Communicating with the reader is essential to keep them interested in what you’ve written. Use a conversational tone while writing website material, as if you were sitting across from the reader. You want to avoid using the pronouns “I” and “we,” right? Instead, try “you” to draw the reader in.

To increase the time a visitor spends on a website, it’s helpful to put oneself in the visitor’s shoes and anticipate their actions. You may gradually steer them in a specific direction by including calls to action (CTAs). By taking users to a new page and encouraging them to fill out a form, CTAs can reduce bounce rates and boost user engagement. Building your business and increasing user engagement requires both innovative and relevant call-to-actions.

It’s important to give people who interact with your content—whether written, visual, or auditory—a chance to interact with your business or website again. Whether you want your readers to buy a product, read more blog pieces, or learn more about a service, it is crucial that you provide them with clear next steps so that they can continue to engage with your site.

6. Create a sense of familiarity.

The customer must believe that your company understands and cares about their predicament. As a result, you need to address their concerns and demonstrate that you’ve previously aided clients in a similar situation. People will spend more time on your site if they feel connected to you and what you have to say.

Concluding Remarks

Although increasing the amount of time users spend on your site is not an overnight process, improving your numbers with incremental tweaks and ongoing optimization is possible.
However, it is crucial to understand the metrics you are using to track time on site before making any significant modifications to encourage visitors to stick around for longer.

The year 2023 has officially begun! As the number of individuals who regularly access the internet grows, so does the need to make your website as user-friendly as possible if you want people to spend more time there.

If you’ve seen a decline in visitors’ time spent on your site, let’s work to reverse that trend. We’re right here to help you out.

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About the Author

Jason Rutel is the founder of Creative Nomads, a dynamic agency centered on enriching donor engagement for nonprofits and global missions organizations. With an impressive track record in web design, videography, and branding, Jason brings innovative communication strategies that drive mission-focused initiatives.

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