Understanding Average Session Duration: What is it? Is it Important? How Do We Improve it?

 

One of the most commonly misunderstood web metrics is Average Session Duration (ASD). In today's post, we will explore this KPI, and answer questions: What is it? Why is it important? and How do we improve it? 

What is Average Session Duration:

Simply put, Average Session Duration measures the average amount of time (in seconds) all visitors spend on your site from the moment they land until they exit or become inactive after a predetermined amount of time. 

For example, if:

Visitor A spends 80 seconds on your site, &

Visitor B spends 235 seconds on your site, &

Visitor C spends 112 seconds on your site,

Then we would calculate the ASD by totaling up the time spent (427 seconds) and dividing it by the number of visitors (3 visitors), equaling 142.33 seconds, or 2.37 minutes. 

Luckily, we have tools to calculate ASD for us such as Google Analytics, SimilarWeb, SEMrush, and more. 

According to Centinturk (2019), a higher ASD implies a strong, engaging site, whereas a lower ASD could indicate that there is a problem within your site. These problems can fall within several areas on your site, including disengaging content, broken links, confusing site navigation, among others. 

It is important not to confuse Average Session Duration with Average Time on Page--ASD measures time spent on the website as a whole, whereas ATP measures time spent on a specific page. With that said, the major caveat here is that ASD relies heavily on engagement and does not take Bounce into its calculation. This means that if a visitor does not engage with (view a product, watch a video, follow a link, etc.) on the last page they visit, this time is not added to the duration because bounce and exit times default to 0 in Google Analytics, even if they spent that time reading content or learning to navigate the site (Hotjar, 2020). 

The downfall of several web metrics is that they are singularly useless unless they are given context.

ASD is a relatively broad metric and does not identify any specific reason for the audience's behavior, such as the problems listed above. The key to truly understanding ASD is by digging deeper into Google Analytics for other behavioral metrics, including but not limited to:

• Traffic Source
• Page Views
• Engagement

Well, if ASD is only good with the proper context, why should I focus on it at all?

Great question...

Why ASD is still Important:

What this metric tells us is how engaging our site is, and ultimately impacts organic search engine optimization (SEO).  Moreover, it tells us the quality of the leads we are receiving and challenges us to ask, "Am I targeting the right people in the right way?"

The good news is that Google Analytics also provides data regarding Session Quality to make this easier.

Okay Maggie, so what is the range for an "ideal" ASD?

How to Improve Average Session Duration:

Albright (2019) says that a good Benchmark for ASD is between 2-3 minutes. 

However, this 'gold standard' range varies depending on whether your site is product-driven (e-commerce sales) or information-driven (blogs, news websites, etc). 

Here are 4 tips to Improve Average Session Duration for Your Website:

1. Design the Journey

The content on your site should entice visitors to complete specific actions. Think about what action you want the visitor to complete (i.e., join an email list, make a purchase) and create a simple and engaging path for them to follow. 

2. Engage, Engage, Engage

A top notch User Experience is everything. By including relevant clickable images and engaging videos throughout your site,  the longer the visitor will be inclined to engage with you, and hopefully, complete the desired action.

3.  Keep it Simple

HumCommerce (2019) says that "having a website with complex designs, excessive ads or graphics, exhausting navigation, it increases the probability of users leaving your website instantly." So, make sure that your content is easy to read and navigate with uniform fonts, simple layouts, and only relevant/useful graphics.

 4. If It's 'Broke,' Fix It

If you take anything from this post, let it be this: Make sure that every single link within your site is connected properly. A '404 error' not only devalues credibility, it can also cost you conversions.

References:

Albright, D. (23 July 2019) Benchmarking Average Session Duration: What it Means and How to 

Improve It. Retrieved on March 28, 2021, from https://databox.com/average-session-durationbenchmark#:~:text=Average%20session%20duration%20in%20Google%20Analytics%20measures%20how%20much%20time,your%20website%20as%20a%20whole.&text=While%20these%20are%20two%20different,are%20spending%20on%20your%20site.

Cetinturk, Naim. (2019). Evaluating the Digital Marketing Metrics: The Relationship of Average 

Session Duration to Sales Performance.

HotJar (20 November 2020). Average Session Duration in Google Analytics. Retrieved on March 

28, 2021, from https://www.hotjar.com/google-analytics/glossary/session-duration/

HumCommerce (22 January 2019). What’s a Good Average Session Duration and How to 

Improve it? Retrieved on March 28, 2021, from https://www.humcommerce.com/

blog/good-average-session-duration/

Roberts, G. (2021). Increasing Average Time on Page/Session Duration. Retrieved on March 28, 

2021, from https://www.orientation.agency/insights/increasing-average-time-on-page-session-duration