Session duration in simple words is the amount of time spent by a user or a reader on your website. This article will tell you what happens to that session duration when a blog is gearing towards death.
Note. If you think you've missed the previous part, check out the 'When will my blog die?' study from the start.
Session duration is one of the parameters that define the quality of writing of the author. Higher average session duration would mean that the visitor is present on the webpage for a higher period of time. This implies that the visitor is hooked to the writing thereby justifying the efforts of the author.
In the present case, the blog started receiving higher average session duration as the time progressed. The average session duration increased at a much higher rate than did the bounce rate.
Change in Session Duration with Time
However, Session duration too showed signs of fluctuation at the end of 35 days, i.e. 5 weeks time. This is actually in conformation with similar sightings of the bounce rate, Number of Visitors and average number of pages per session.
Correlation of Session Duration with Bounce Rate
The constant upward movement of Session duration with time correlated with the bounce rate which actually reduced with time. This depicts that as the bounce rate decreased visitors started viewing higher number of pages thereby spending higher amount of time at the website in one session.
Correlation of Session Duration with Number of Visitors
The upward movement of session duration in correlation with the constant dip in the number of visitors and lowering bounce rate on the website showed that as the time passed, the visitors remaining were actually interested in the content instead of surfing. In short this meant that the truly loyal or sincere visitors remained with the website towards its death.
Correlation of Session Duration with Pages per Session
Another Correlation can be found with the average session time and Pages per session, where one can find that the abrupt increase in the average session time can be attributed to an increase in the number of pages viewed in one session. This would mean that the session time increases because the readers are opening more pages and not because there was a sudden increase in the curiosity on the subject.
Correlation of Session Duration with Percentage Returning sessions
As is evident from the graph below, it was found that the changes in average session time were proportional to the percentage of returning sessions for the first 35 days. This is quite logical as the returning visitors are keen on finding and exploring the website over again. This might be in search of new content or due to simple veneration. However, after 35 days the relationship between the two parameters became inverse. The average session time actually reduced with an increase in returning sessions.
The Complete Study
The Complete 5 Part Study can be accessed from here as it is published,
[Published on 8th Dec 2014]
[Published on 15th Dec 2014]
[Published on 22th Dec 2014]
[Published on 29th Dec 2014]
[Published on 19th Jan 2015]
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