“Time spent on site” is a classic digital marketing Key Performance Indicator, but it is usually a poor measure of marketing effectiveness.
The Nseries Example
A while back, I was responsible for the European digital marketing for Nokia’s Nseries. We initially had an Nseries web-site for every major European language. A decision was made to reduce the languages to just English.
The result was a rise in time spent on site. That rise did not signal deeper engagement. Visitors were spending longer because they were confused by a site that no longer spoke their language.
What Dwell Time Misses
Dwell time tells you that someone stayed. It does not tell you whether they found what they needed, understood it, or left satisfied. A visitor who lingers in frustration and a visitor who lingers in interest can look identical in the numbers.
Success rates and customer satisfaction are better measures of whether the marketing is doing its job. They describe the outcome of a visit rather than its duration.
The Takeaway
Judge a digital experience by what people achieve on it, not by how long they are held there. Quality of time beats quantity of time.