Keeping visitors engaged on your website for longer may not seem like a significant factor when it comes to your online presence. After all, if people are finding your site and you’re getting good traffic, why does it matter how long they stay on your webpage?
Ultimately, keeping visitors on your site for longer can influence your search engine rankings and your conversions, both of which can affect your online presence. Here’s what you need to know about engaging your audience on your website to support your success.
Why It Matters How Long Someone Stays on Your Website
When people don’t stay on your website, they don’t have a chance to review what you offer and consume your content. The longer visitors stay on your website, the higher the chances that they will read and watch your content and understand what you do.
In addition, the more time someone spends on your website, the more likely they are to complete your desired action, whether it’s signing up for an email list, scheduling a consultation with you, or completing an online poll.
Website visitors who aren’t engaged can quickly leave, which increases your website’s bounce rate. Bounce rate is when people come to your site and leave without looking around or staying for a significant amount of time. Bounce rate can not only influence your search engine rankings but also your bottom line.
Bounce Rate and Your Search Engine Rankings
Although search engines such as Google have said they don’t use bounce rate as a factor in rankings, bounce rate can give other information to search engines about how helpful your content is, which can ultimately impact your rankings.
For example, a high bounce rate may mean your website:
- Has a poor design. People may not be able to find what they need.
- Loads too slowly. Visitors won’t stick around to wait for content to load.
- Doesn’t work on mobile devices. Your audience can get frustrated and leave.
- Lacks helpful content. People aren’t finding what they’re looking for.
These factors may indirectly tell search engines that your website isn’t going to be valuable to users. Tracking your bounce rate can help you better understand how long people stay on your website and identify potential reasons why they might be leaving too soon.
To sum up, the lower your bounce rate, the more engaging and helpful your content is likely to be, and the more positive experience your web visitors will have—all essential factors that can lead to better rankings and more conversions.
How to Keep People Engaged for Longer
You have several options when it comes to keeping people on your website for longer. In addition to having an intuitive web design, high-quality content, and fast loading speeds, you can also create interactive content to engage visitors.
These include quizzes and polls that people can use to find out more information or videos they can watch about your company or services. Photo galleries, such as before and after images, where visitors can browse pictures or videos can help people get a visual about your company and what you offer, increasing their engagement and the chances that they would convert.
Have Questions? Contact Gazz Consulting
Want to know more about understanding your bounce rate or how to keep visitors on your site for longer to improve your conversions? Contact Gazz Consulting today to discuss your digital marketing possibilities.
