As a metric, engagement rate refers to the percentage of sessions on a webpage where users remained on the page for ten or more seconds or had two or more page views. (To get the engagement rate, divide the number of engaged sessions by the total sessions.) Generally, you want more users engaging with your content, so a higher engagement rate is preferable. A good engagement rate is 60-70 %, depending on the site.
Q: What should I do if my Engagement Rate is low?
A: The engagement rate may be low due to several factors. There could be unclear calls to action. You may have buried important information under overwhelming chunks of text. Or there may be problems with the user journey on the page, leading to confusion. Here are a few simple steps you can take to diagnose the issue and get your engagement rate on the right path:
Dig deeper: Start by seeing whether your site’s engagement rate is uniformly low or results from specific channels, source/medium pairs, pages, screens, or something else. Once you’ve found the issue’s root, you can troubleshoot what may be causing the dip in engagement rates.
Determine what’s driving traffic: If a few pages or screens have a low engagement rate, see whether the content on the page correlates well with whatever you’re using to drive people to those pages—whether those ads, organic search keywords, or otherwise. Then, examine whether a wide gap exists between what users think they might find on a page and its content. If there is, they’re less likely to engage.
Example: If the metatext of your page on Google says that users can find registration forms, but the site links to only some forms, users will feel frustrated and not engage with the page. Updating the page to have the forms or editing the metatext to describe the page more accurately may help the engagement rate.
Here is an example of good metadata from CastorDoc:
Here is an example of bad metadata from TinyIMG:
Notice how the title is too long, with excess, complex punctuation, so it cuts off. Then, see how the meta description is too long; it cuts off without any discernible keywords or a clear summary, so we have no idea what the site offers.
Evaluate the user journey: For pages with abnormally low engagement rates, ask yourself: do these pages create an easy path for users to do what they need to do? Are users looking for buttons, links, or forms visible and near the top of the page, or are they buried under loads of text so they must scroll far to find it? Research shows that users spend fewer than 20 seconds on a page, so if it’s not easy to determine what to do next, they’re more likely to leave the site.
Assess readability: Those building a website understand the subject matter they are writing about. Users, on the other hand, may not. They also may have cognitive disabilities that prevent them from understanding complicated jargon. For these reasons, your content must be accessible to readers of all levels so they can find what they’re looking for and engage with your website. You can find more information about readability here.
- Test (and retest) solutions: Sometimes, there isn’t a definitive answer to why engagement increases or decreases. So, it’s never a bad idea to test variations of what you think may be the reason for the fluctuation or try implementing a new site strategy. Compare the test engagement rate with the original rate to see which performs better with users. You may strike gold!
Example: If a user comes to your site looking for a grant application, but the link to that application is in the middle of a list of 20 other irrelevant links, they may be unable to find it and leave the page. One way to remedy this issue may be to make the application a stand-alone button or move it toward the top of the page so it’s more visible.