Pages per Session: Measuring Website Engagement and User Behaviour

Understanding website engagement and user behavior is essential for digital marketers who want to optimize their websites for maximum performance. By analyzing the number of pages users visit during each session, you can gain valuable insights into how users interact with your website and how you can best target your users.

In this article, we will explore Pages per Session and how they can be used to measure website engagement and user behavior.

Calculating and Tracking Pages per Session Metric

Pages per session, also known as page views per session, is a metric in web analytics that measures the average number of pages viewed by a user during a single session on a website.

For example, let’s say there are 100 sessions on a website in a given period. If the total number of pages viewed during those 100 sessions is 500, then the Pages per Session would be calculated as follows:

Total number of pages viewed/Total number of sessions

500/100 = 5

This means that, on average, each session involves a user viewing 5 pages of the website.

To track this metric in Google Analytics, you will find it in the Audience Overview area after navigating to the Report Section.

Of course, it is crucial to note that the Pages per Session metric is not useful if considered alone; it must be considered in the context of other useful metrics. Therefore, to augment this data, the Eye10 Rank Checker, among other Eye10 tools, helps you to see an overview of how your keywords rank in searches.

What is the Ideal Pages per Session Rate?

There is no fixed benchmark for Pages per Session, as it can vary greatly depending on the website type, the content’s nature, and the business industry. For example, a news website may have a high Pages per Session as users tend to click on multiple articles, while a single-page website will have a low Pages per Session.

However, as a general rule, a Pages per Session value of 3 to 5 is considered good enough, as it suggests that users find and interact with multiple pieces of content during each session.

Suppose the Pages per Session value is lower. In that case, it may indicate that users are having difficulty finding the information they need or that the website design is not effectively guiding them to relevant content. In such cases, it may be worth conducting user testing or making design changes to improve the user experience.

How to Boost Website Engagement

At the root, a low Page per Session rate is a problem of engagement. A higher level of engagement indicates that users are more interested and invested in the site’s content. Hence, the following tips.

1. Optimize the user experience and site performance

In addition to having a consistent user interface with clear presentation and consistent visuals, it is particularly important to use a  mobile-friendly design to ensure that the website is easily accessible and usable on mobile devices, which are now the most dominant means of accessing the web.

On the performance side, the major issue is loading speed; slow-loading times are major turn-offs for website visitors. If you are unsure how your site performs in terms of speed, the Eye10 Pagespeed tool will measure the speed for desktop and mobile versions to help you see where things stand.

Also, making the website accessible to users with disabilities will ensure that everyone has a positive experience, regardless of their abilities.

2. Optimize navigation

To increase the likelihood of users visiting more pages for each session on your website, ensure that the navigation structure is easy to understand and intuitive.

Whether you use a breadcrumb approach or not, navigation elements should be organized into clear categories that make sense for the website and allow users to find what they’re looking for quickly.

Drop-down menus can show additional subcategories, making it easier for users to drill down and find specific content. And don’t forget to include a search function too.

3. Strengthen internal link-building

Internal links help establish a site’s structure and guide users through their experience. This helps users find content more quickly and increases the likelihood that they will visit multiple pages on a website.

An effective internal link-building strategy involves adding links to relevant content within the body of a page, using clear and descriptive anchor text, and organizing content into categories or silos to make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for.

Measuring the performance of your link-building efforts is straightforward with the Eye10 Backlink Monitor tool.

4. Add compelling CTAs to your content

CTAs are designed to encourage users to take a specific action, such as clicking on another page on the website, filling out a form, or making a purchase. By adding engaging and relevant CTAs to posts, users are nudged to take the relevant action that keeps them on the website.

It’s important to ensure that CTAs are placed in strategic locations and are designed to be clear and easy to understand. They should be visually appealing and use strong language to encourage users to take action.

5. Have a ‘Related Posts’ section

When users finish reading a post, the related posts section provides a list of other articles that may be of interest based on their current interests and previous behavior on the site.

This keeps users engaged and reduces the number of times they leave the site, but it also helps to promote content that would otherwise be hidden and provides a more personalized experience for the user.

6. Eliminate annoying pop-ups

Pop-ups are often seen as intrusive and annoying by users and can result in them quickly leaving the site. By eliminating pop-ups, you are more likely to turn your visitors into engaged users and perhaps convert them into customers.

The key is to balance the use of pop-ups with the user experience. If pop-ups are well-designed, relevant, and provide value to the user, they can be a valuable tool in improving rather than diminishing user engagement.

Conclusion

The data collected from measuring pages per session can give you a lot of insight into how users engage with your site. By analyzing the data, you can better understand user behavior, which can help you create a more user-friendly and engaging experience.

However, there is more to search engine ranking and website engagement than this metric. You need access to a fuller range of measurable factors with real-time data supplied by Eye10 tools, which cover various aspects of SEO. Join the many SEO marketers using this tool to boost their website rankings.