User Engagement is Measured by Pageviews and Session Duration

Pages per session and session duration are some of the more common metrics that SEO specialists use to analyze how effective their website content is at keeping site visitors engaged. Typically, one may think that the more pageviews per session and longer session, the more interested the visitor is about the website. While this may be true, it is also important to remember that sometimes lower duration and fewer pageviews can be a good thing.

What Does it Mean When Engagement Data Begins to Decline?

When people work on SEO, it can be easy to become disappointed when data indicates that organic traffic is looking at fewer pages than they were previously. However, this may be an indicator that the recent changes and optimization have begun working in their favor.

For instance, if you are searching for “pneumatic valves,” the search engine results page will likely have many listings for companies that sell pneumatic valves and direct users to a company’s home page. While this may not be a bad idea, it is important to consider if this is the BEST experience for organic visitors to your site.


Most visitors will come to your site through your homepage, but some of your more essential information about pneumatic valves may be on your services or product pages and not the homepage. This means that users who enter on your homepage will have to take an extra step to reach the most relevant page about pneumatic valves. If your company offers a wide variety of products, including pneumatic valves, wouldn’t it make more sense to have the “pneumatic valve” searchers land on the pneumatic valve page instead of the home page?

On-Page Optimization May Decrease Pages Per Session

The tricky part about SEO programs is taking in all sorts of different data and analyzing how they work together. It’s more than just making keywords rank and getting more people to spend more time on your site. You need to ensure you are delivering a pleasant user experience, and one way to do so is to make sure the right page ranks for the correct queries.

If a user enters the site on the best landing page for their query, they are more likely to have fewer pages per session and spend less time on the site. These users landed on the “right” landing page and didn’t need to search your site extensively to find what they need. Time on site and pages per visit are great metrics, but it’s important to understand that if they decrease, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong. Sometimes, it can even be a good sign.

Learn more about how on-page optimization can influence traditional engagement metrics by reaching out to Ecreative. We can help you optimize your website for optimal user experience. Ask your questions today.