Online Marketing Blog

Web design resources and news for small business owners in Snohomish and around the world.

Keep Your Visitors Around 12X Longer With Content

Keep Your Visitors Around 12X Longer With Content

What can content do for you? At the very least, it will probably increase the length of time visitors hang around. Take a look at the chart below. This particular site was rebuilt on a content management system and published with a bunch of new content in late August/early September of 2012. The chart below shows the six months prior to launch and the six months after. Avg. Session Durationincreases from 01:01 (one minute, one second) before the rebuild to 12:02 (12 minutes, two seconds) after. That's a 12X increase.

Chart 1: Graph showing increase in avg. session duration (visitor length of stay) six months before and after launch.
Chart 1: Notice the dramatic increase in session duration, or the length of time a visitor stays on the site.

Here are the before/after numbers once again:

  • 01:01 (one minute, one second) before
  • 12:02 (12 minutes, two seconds) after

12X is a pretty big jump in my book. Even when we look at +/- one year just to make sure this wasn't a brief bump we see the same pattern hold. It is a sustained increase.

Why Increase Duration

Would you take this result? I would. Shoot, I would take a 1/6th of it because any increase in length of stay means more opportunity to guide visitors to the ultimate action you want them to take.

How Can You Get Started With Content Marketing

First off, change your mindset. You need to start thinking like a publisher that is an authority in your area of business. You have a unique solution to your prospects problems and you want to spread the good word about it. Secondly, get your site on a content management system if it isn't already. It will make your life incredibly easier for publishing content. Third, start sharing your information. I will go to your site if it adds value to my day.

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