CRO specialists and content creators often struggle to identify effective webpage elements. Click-through rates (CTR) don't tell the whole story. Elements like testimonials, logo clouds, reviews, or product descriptions aren't designed for clicks—they build trust and reassure visitors. But how can you tell if they're effective? Even when tracking clicks, low interaction numbers can make it challenging to draw meaningful conclusions quickly.
Introducing the Dwell Time Metric
Enter the dwell time metric—a game-changer for tracking engagement meaningfully. Unlike click-based metrics, dwell time measures how long visitors focus on specific page elements. The longer someone lingers on an element, the more likely it's capturing their attention. Social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have long used this metric to optimize feed engagement. Now, it's revolutionizing website optimization too.
Dwell time wasn't commonly used in website optimization until recently because most tools focused on broader, page-level metrics like bounce rate. While useful, these metrics aren't fine-grained enough to reveal which specific elements on a page are truly engaging visitors.
Social media platforms have demonstrated dwell time's power in understanding user behavior, and now this metric is finding its way into tools like Prepr CMS. This makes it incredibly easy for CRO specialists and editors to pinpoint exactly which elements and content are resonating with users—and which ones aren't.
Dwell time offers insights that clicks alone can't provide. By focusing on attention and engagement, it enables you to:
- Measure non-clickable elements: Gauge the impact of trust-building features like testimonials, product descriptions, and brand logos.
- Gain faster insights: Even with sparse click data, dwell time provides a clearer picture of user behavior, accelerating the path to actionable insights.
- Fine-tune engagement: Pinpoint which parts of your website capture and hold visitor attention, allowing for more targeted optimization.
These advantages make dwell time an essential metric for understanding your website's performance from a new perspective—one that focuses on how long visitors actively engage with key content.
A/B Testing in action: Prepr's homepage headline
We recently A/B tested two different website headlines. The first, "Every visitor is unique. Shouldn't your website be too?" takes an emotional, personalized approach, emphasizing individuality. The second, "Build high-performing, personalized sites with ease," offers a more functional message, appealing to efficiency-seekers.
Click data alone made it difficult to determine a clear winner. However, dwell time painted a different picture. The first headline engaged visitors over 10% longer, suggesting it resonates more deeply and captures attention more effectively. This insight provides a clearer understanding of visitor interaction, even in the absence of clicks. This metric will provide clearer insight into the winner as we gather more data.
Next step: Diving deeper into dwell time
The dwell time metric is a recent addition to our optimization toolkit, so we can only share these early results for now. However, we're planning more comprehensive studies across all elements on our homepage, with insights to be shared soon. These future studies will examine a wider range of page elements, including hero images, call-to-action buttons, and supporting content like reviews and product descriptions.
We're confident that dwell time will continue to yield valuable insights, helping us refine each aspect of the user journey for maximum engagement.
Let's talk about your website optimization
How are you currently measuring your website's performance? We'd love to hear your thoughts on the potential of the dwell time metric and our findings so far!
If you're eager to learn more or want to explore how the dwell time metric can enhance your website's performance, don't hesitate to schedule a call with one of our experts. We're here to address your questions and guide you through tailored optimization strategies. Let's connect and discover how to elevate your site's engagement to new heights!
