Engagement metrics help you understand how visitors interact with your site beyond just loading it. These signals reveal how effectively your content captures attention, encourages interaction, and keep users involved.
What is session duration?
Session duration measures the average amount of time a user spends on your site during a single visit - from the first pageview to the last recorded interaction. It captures how long users are actively engaged before leaving the site or becoming inactive.
How is it measured?
The timer for session duration starts when the user loads the first page and ends with their last recorded interaction or pageview. If a session includes multiple pageviews or actions, the time between them is used to calculate the total duration. Sessions with only one interaction (i.e. bounces) often register as 0s, since there’s no second timestamp to calculate from.
Why it matters?
Longer session durations typically indicate that users are spending time reading, exploring, or engaging with your content. Short durations - or sessions that drop off quickly - can point to poor content relevance, unclear UX, or performance issues like slow-loading pages that cause early exits. Tracking session duration helps you evaluate whether users are finding value in your site and where you may need to improve flow, layout, or speed.