There are so many things that go into producing a truly successful blog. You want quality inbound links, lots of traffic, low bounce rate (depending on the type of blog) and you want conversions. All of these things are positive. When considering your Alexa ranking and Google page ranking, many additional factors come into play, and one of them is average time on site. In other words, how long are people sticking around? Does it matter to you?
For some bloggers, average time on site doesn’t mean anything. But here’s the simple truth: the longer a visitor stays, the more likely they are to see what you want them to see, such as a subscription box or an affiliate product advertisement. And increased average time on site is a factor in your blog’s overall quality.
How can you move towards increased time on site?
1. Write Longer Posts
Ha! Easier said than done, right? That’s true for some people. I have a tendency to talk too much so that spills over in my blogging as well; long posts are not difficult for me. I like posts that are between 500 and 1000 words.
If you find yourself having difficulty stretching out your posts, just go back and re-read your content to make sure that you are truly being helpful. Can someone walk away from your post with something practical? Is it thought-provoking, informative, or useful?
Break up longer posts into sections, too, as people are more likely to find such posts manageable. Have you ever come to a page that has just a bunch of text in huge paragraphs? Who in the world wants to read that? It’s too much. Break it up; use h2 and h3 heading tags and label them so that people know what is contained in that section. That will help them find what they are looking for.
2. Develop a Funnel
Do you want readers to come to your site, read a post, and go away? What about after they leave a comment? What should happen then?
If you don’t have a funnel, you need to get one – if you plan to make money blogging. Plan ahead in your mind and then on paper exactly how the ideal visit to your website would go. For me, I would like people to come, read a post, share it with Twitter, leave a comment which takes them to a thank you page, and then download the free blogging guide that is available on the comment’s thank you page. There is a specific funnel I would like all readers to go through.
It’s unrealistic to think that everyone will follow that path, but at least it is in place. How will your readers get from point A to point B unless you tell them how to get there?
Creating a funnel is a great way to increase time on site, as visitors navigate through your website from destination to destination in a way that makes sense.
3. Create Starting Points
Help new visitors understand you better by putting together lists of your best material. Good places for this are on your About Page, in your sidebar, or on your comment thank you page. Popular posts lists work very well. You can label them “popular,” “most read,” or “most commented,” as any of those labels are attractive and will draw people in to stick around a little longer.
Is there a post that everyone loves to read and comment on? Display it prominently. It’s likely that a new visitor will like it, too. If your blog provides helpful information of any kind, create something like “start here” so that people new to your blog can get the full benefit. Also, just by using the word “start” you are inferring that the visit is intended to be one of substance. You are inviting them to explore your blog; to stay awhile.
4. Encourage Commenting and Sharing
We talk a lot about the practice of commenting as a way to improve visibility for our blogs and to connect us to other bloggers. But we don’t talk about creating an environment worthy of a comment. Making comments nofollow is a big mistake unless you are already very popular and have a high-ranking blog. So make comments dofollow. It only makes sense in a blog environment where the bloggers are savvy enough to be able to tell the difference.
One of the biggest turn offs for me is when a blogger doesn’t give you any way to comment easily or share the content through social media. Take the time to tour your blog and make sure it is visitor friendly. Is commenting easy? Do you require visitors to have an account to leave a comment? When people take time to comment, they are increasing average time on site. When you don’t make it easy, they will leave the blog (and probably not come back).
Other Ways
What are some other ways to increase average time on site? Does it matter to you?
Image Credit: William Warby
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Tagged as: Blogging, bounce rate, ranking, time on site
{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
I do agree with #4 as interacting with readers is very important that can not only get them back but also keep them stay for while
However, I disagree with #1 as most of readers like me do not like reading a longer post at all lol, but I like this post even it is a bit long
Tinh´s last [type] ..Affiliate Links Cloaking Is Ethical to Your Readers?
Hey Tinh! See – you read because you liked it.
That’s good! I know, though, that long posts don’t work for everyone.
Hi Tia
Good points you shared.
I can add some more points like having less page loading time, good design, killer content and much more.
Thanks For Sharing
-Abhishek
Thanks Abhishek. Good design does help, too – especially if your content is laid out in a way that makes people want to stay and look at more things.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..How to Write Without Being Overly Promotional
Hi Tia,
I have started using Apture and it is a great way to incorporate the features within your posts. Whenever I use Apture in my posts, I always have readers stay longer. I haven’t been using it lately, but I will get back to it very soon.
Great post!
Evelyn´s last [type] ..5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog
lol tell me more bout the apture!!
Me too. I’m curious about it! Never heard of it!
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Indispensable Blogging Lessons from HubPages
Hey Samuel and Tia,
I did a review on Apture. Take a look at it. You may not like it because the Apture Bar could be annoying to some, but it can be minimized. Here’s my review.
http://evelynparham.com/2010/07/14/apture-is-the-bomb/
I think it’s a really cool way to keep readers on your site longer.
Evelyn´s last [type] ..5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog
My tip: If you want to increase average time on your blog, you must post regularly on your blog in your blog niche only.
Simrandeep Singh´s last [type] ..How To Add Official Twitter Share Count Tweet Button To Thesis WordPress Theme
Hi Sim – Good tip. Why do you feel that way? What if the blog gets mostly search traffic instead of regular visits? Do you think it makes a difference whether or not you stick to your niche if most of the traffic is coming from search visitors looking for something specific?
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Two Cents Tuesday- What’s the Main Reason So Many Blogs Fail
It doesn’t matter if you are getting traffic from search engines or regular visits. If you are posting regularly in your niche only then readers will surely read other articles on your blog. Suppose you are posting regularly on blogging and if a visitors visits your blog from search engine then he will surely check other articles too.
Simrandeep Singh´s last [type] ..How To Add Official Twitter Share Count Tweet Button To Thesis WordPress Theme
nice post! i love the 4th tip lol. umm talking bout the post that sounds somehow to me! well i will look into it thanks anyway! keep the gud work up.
Hi Samuel – LOL No you were not in mind when I was putting together the tips, but, lol if there’s something you think you might want to change, go for it!
Cheers,
Tia
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Is Your Blog Missing This Key Search Engine Magnet
Impressive and extra ordinary tips
thank you so much. i always focus on bounce traffic and i am able to keep it in -20% and above every month.
Cheers.
Robin´s last [type] ..Online Text to Movie Software- Make Xtranormal Movie
Thanks, Robin. Glad your bounce rate is so low! That is very good.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..How to Get More Local Business Using Blogging and Social Media
Very nice post Tia,
Anything that can engage visitors will work.. and these are some really good tips for doing getting them to stay and be engaged..
This also increases the chance of them actually opting in.. which is also good :0)
Hector
Hector Cuevas´s last [type] ..How To Get More Leads By Making 5 Simple Changes Part TWO
Absolutely. And getting more opt-ins is something we all would like, right!?
Hey Tia,
I must say great post!
Everyone must creat a funnel to send your visiters so they can subscribe right? Sooo, how do we go about making a funnel to send visiters?
I agree writing long articles is the best way too go. If you cant do it at first you just have to develop your writing skills more over time.
Hardwork will over come any obsticle.
Thanks again Tia!
God bless,
William Veasley
William Veasley´s last [type] ..The Fast Lane
Hi William – Thanks for your compliment! That’s right. People shouldn’t be afraid to write something substantial. Write something of value and you will attract readers who care about it and who are not just looking for a back link by leaving a cheap comment.
Hah, I do like point #3. But it only applies to blog who is around for several months.
Any ideas for blog that is new 
Mike´s last [type] ..How to stop playing and start treating make money online as your real business
Wow, great question. For new blogs, plan ahead.
Spend most of your time creating content so when visitors come, there is something to read.
No easy answer!
I like idea #3 but not so sure about writing a longer post. May or may not work, as there are a lot of other factors. I.e. people skimming article, people not interested in topic of article, etc.
Commenting and sharing should definitely be encouraged–creates a community.
Moon Hussain´s last [type] ..A Personal Update- 2 Months After the Move and Then Some
Thanks, Moon!
Thanks tia, another nice post. I think writing long post may work well. But we should not write long post only to keep our readers longer. We should write it if it creat value. Any way some nice point here. But you haven’t mention some really good point like,
*Writing quality post: If your post is top quality, people will stay longer to find more.
* Related post widget: This is great way to keep your reader much longer in your site
* Popular post: Here your reader will get all of your popular post and he will be interested to read.
Thanks
alamin@earn by blog´s last [type] ..60 Ways to Increase Your Influence Online Fridays Favourite
Hi Alamin – Very good point. You’re right – it’s about providing value and not about increasing statistics.
i have heard a lot about making or creating funnels but still not sure how to do it….can you write a detailed article on it….
tushar´s last [type] ..Alexa Rankings- Time to Look Beyond It and Think Differently
Yes. Look for it Saturday.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Are you a grasshopper or an ant blogger
giving a lot of opinions rather than fact in a post also increase the average time on site because the reader will choose whether they agree or not with your opinions…
Julian´s last [type] ..Disable Right Click Using JavaScript
That’s an interesting point. I wonder if I am opinionated on the blog. lol Probably.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Question of the Week- Do You Consider Yourself Influential
I don’t agree with the first point. In my opinion writing longer posts, wont keep the users on site for a long time. Instead you should write all your points clearly in a short version. Anyways thanks for providing an awesome article.
Sathish @ TechieMania´s last [type] ..TechieMania Breaks Into Alexa’s Top 100K Website Ranking
Hey Sathish – Thanks for speaking up. What’s your idea of short vs long? And how long do you think it takes to read 100 words, vs 500 words?
Many of the most popular blogs have length minimums, such as minimum 700 words or 800 words, because it’s been proven to work better both in terms of SEO as well as engagement/sharing. But in my experience it depends on the readership, why they are visiting your blog, what they do for a living, and what you are trying to communicate.
Some information can’t be squeezed into a short post. It just depends on the subject.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..How to Get More Local Business Using Blogging and Social Media
To be honest I think creating longer posts will only work if you are good at writing and keeping your reader engrossed. I’m not, that’s why I stick to shorter ones.
It means that they will come back but they don’t spend that long on the site when they do visit.
Dean Saliba´s last [type] ..Working For Yourself Is Great For Your Hobby
Hi Dean, you are right. It really does depend on whether or not you can write well, as well as whether or not the page looks daunting. Too many words can be overwhelming. It must be laid out correctly.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Long Tail Keywords- What They Are and How They Help You
Really great post Tia,
I will be putting some of your advices into practice and I will observe how everything works.
Thanks so much for the great post,
-Onibalusi
Hey Oni – Yes, do that. Let me know how it turns out. It will help if you go to bloggrader.com and find out what the average time on site is now, and then you can more accurately compare it.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Is Your Blog Missing This Key Search Engine Magnet
#1 is all me baby! lol
I tend to write longer also. Some babble as I input plenty of personality, but mostly just trying to be as thorough as possible.
Ah the H-tags. I’ve been blogging for years and just started learning about these a few months ago; perhaps a little slow, lol, but I’m addicted.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last [type] ..Welcome To The All New DennisEdellcom!
Now it’s probably second nature to you. It really helps break up the content and of course you can style them any way you like to make it look prettier (like here on technshare.com or on famousbloggers.net).
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Indispensable Blogging Lessons from HubPages
For “prettier’ I just make them a darker blue; it looks good and shouldn’t be confused for a link.
I’m pretty sure I’m using them “wrong”, but don’t care much. For example, I know the main point is to keyword them; I will if it “fits” otherwise I use them solely for reading ease.
I also use them lots of times like this – 22 333 2 3 3 2 etc.
Probably totally wrong, but it makes sense if your reading it. LOL
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last [type] ..Update 1 – What DEDC is About
Hi Tia,
Great points! I too write long blog posts and despite everyone saying it’s hard to read, I try to make all the ideas scannable if need be through breaking them up into sections. Thus, doing this allows myself to talk about the topic thoroughly and also let the reader see that process is more than a few sentences if they want to read more in depth.
Thank you for point 2 & 3 too. Designing a funnel and even providing more starting points are definitely worth the effort to increase average time on site. That’s something I’m going to have to work on consistently as it’s a neverending testing process of conversion.
Overall, these points should definitely be on a blogger’s list if the interaction of their blog is important. Thank you so much for this great post.
Thu
Thu
Thu Nguyen´s last [type] ..How to Get Those First Stars For Your Profile in Helium
You’re welcome, Thu!
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..How to Write Without Being Overly Promotional
Great tips, Tia!
I’m particularly interested in the funnel approach and directing commenters to a “thank you” page. How would one set this up?
Longer posts work as long as you can keep the reader engaged.
Alan Mater´s last [type] ..Marketing Your Online Business Effectively
Thanks, Alan. I am going to talk about the comment redirect on Saturday’s post, but if you want to get an early start, you can look up Comment Redirect Wordpress plugin. That will create a redirect after someone leaves a comment (for the first time) to any page you like!
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Business Blogging- Are You Spending Too Much Time- or Too Little
Thanks a ton, Tia! I’ll be looking out for your post, and in the meantime, I’ve downloaded the plug-in.
Cheers!
Alan Mater´s last [type] ..July 2010 Income Report and Update
As for writing longer posts, it can be a hit or a miss situation. It may just be that I am lazy, or it could be that I don’t have a lot of spare time on my hands, but I don’t feel like reading a thousand-word-article.
I’ll start reading it, but after the first or second paragraph, I usually will just start running.
It’s more about creating content that is interesting. One good strategy, if you do write longer posts, is to put the important information at the top, so your readers will get drug into the post.
You make a valid point about interesting content, but this post is really about increasing time spent on site and not so much about attracting new readers or anything like that. If you’ve already got an established readership who knows and likes your content, and your posts are a bit longer, your average time on site is going to be increased if they are reading all the way through and commenting.
People can read faster than it seems. We can read a 700 word post in just a few minutes. The number itself seems huge but it’s not actually very much content.
Tia Peterson´s last [type] ..Are you a grasshopper or an ant blogger
The first point is completely valid. I myself lose control over my fingers and end up writing long, long posts, but now I know it’s not bad!
Tej Kohli´s last [type] ..Leona Flaunts Her New Tattoo – Tej Kohli
I’m trying out YouTube videos @ the moment on my blog and it seems to be working as average time on site is fast approaching 5 minutes from 3 minutes
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Thanks!
Cool ways to increase average time on site.
Quick question: What’s the plugin you use at the bottom of each post that says “STOP!” and recommends 2 products? I see Michael Dunlop use it, but I can’t seem to figure out what it is.
Anthony Myers´s last [type] ..The Secret To A Sexy Female Body- Build Muscle
really to say that was an awesome post…its very helpful indeed…keep publishing such article in the near future…good luck…….
arun´s last [type] ..How to Increase Alexa Ranking the Correct way
Very effective ideas you have given to increase average time on site. I have low average time. I am gonna try these tips. And hope everything will go fine.
I always find it funny when bloggers give the tip of making comments dofollow and then their own comments are nofollow. What a great way to be hypocritical.
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