Let’s talk about something that’s on just about every business owner’s mind the moment they launch a website: how to rank better on Google. But instead of diving into general SEO advice, I want to zero in on something more measurable, more tactical, and very often misunderstood. I'm talking about dwell time—how long a visitor stays on your site before bouncing back to the search results. It's not just an abstraction; in the eyes of search engines, longer dwell time means your site is actually useful to people. And that’s a feedback loop worth caring about.
In my work with clients at Zach Sean Web Design, I’ve seen firsthand how changes to a website’s UX, structure, and messaging directly influence this metric. Whether I’m building something fresh in Webflow or refining an existing site in Wordpress, Wix, or Squarespace, I find that improving dwell time brings SEO benefits that cascade into better rankings, more qualified traffic, and ultimately, more conversions.
So, here are 8 effective ways to improve your website's dwell time—with stories, real client experiences, and tactics you can actually use. This isn’t theory. These are moves tested in the wild with actual businesses who were struggling with visibility. Let’s get into it.
Your headline sets the tone. It’s your handshake moment. If you’re using generic phrases like “Our Services” or “Welcome to Our Website,” you’re already losing people.
I worked with a local Franklin-based therapist who had a beautiful Squarespace site—but the intro headline simply read “Counseling Services in Franklin, TN.” Accurate, but cold. We swapped it for: “Feeling Stuck? Let’s Work Through It Together.” Within two weeks, her bounce rate dropped by nearly 20%. Why? Because now she was speaking to the emotional state of her client, not just checking an SEO box.
Emotionally responsive headlines do more than grab attention—they validate the visitor's decision to click in the first place. And that increases the likelihood they'll stick around to read more.
Use second-person language. Speak to your audience's specific situation. If you're a web designer, for instance, a homepage might say: “Your website should be selling for you, even when you’re asleep.” That's far more compelling than "Modern Web Design Solutions."
Think of your website like the layout of a retail store. Every aisle (page) should guide visitors toward a useful destination. If they get lost or overwhelmed, they’ll leave. That means making navigation intuitive, but also designing around user intent.
One of my clients, a Nashville-based event rental company, had dozens of amazing product pages—but users were bouncing fast because they couldn’t find what they were looking for quickly. We restructured the navigation by use case: “Wedding Rentals,” “Corporate Events,” “Backyard Parties” and so on. Suddenly, users clicked deeper, and viewed 2.3x more pages per session. That’s a dwell time multiplier.
Tools like Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity can give you an actual picture of how users are experiencing your site. Where they click, where they scroll, and most importantly, where they give up.
If it loads slow, they’re gone. You’ve probably heard that stat: more than half of visitors abandon a page that takes over 3 seconds to load. Google even reinforces this.
Think of dwell time not as "watch time" but as "attention earned." Interactive elements create dynamic experiences that reward curiosity, and subtly encourage people to explore deeper into your site.
With an e-commerce Webflow build I did for a Franklin indie fashion brand, we added a “What’s Your Style Vibe?” quiz. It’s simple: 5 visual questions, lightweight scripting, and custom product results at the end. Not only did average session duration jump from 1:45 to 3:52, but the email capture rate nearly doubled.
Interactive elements should support the visitor's purpose—not just exist for flash. Useful examples include:
Even long-form content won’t hold dwell time if it’s presented as a wall of text. In content design, structure beats style. This is especially true for blog posts, service pages, and landing pages where the user intent is research-based.
I helped a client in the legal services space rework a blog originally titled “10 Things to Know About Estate Planning.” The content was solid, but unstructured. We broke it down with h3 subheadings, bulleted takeaways, and embedded resources. Bounce rate dropped by 15%, and we saw a significant uptick in organic traffic over the next few months.
Not stock photos slapped next to paragraphs. Think illustrative graphics, diagrams, or screenshots that support ideas. Bonus if they’re branded and custom.
A site without strategic internal linking is like a museum without signs. Internal links drive readers toward their next relevant interest, and directly affect dwell time by drawing out the browsing session.
One website audit I ran for a coaching client revealed they had nearly 60 published blog posts—but each post was isolated. No links to related articles, guides, or services. We added in-line contextual links to supporting articles and created "related reading" sections at the end of posts. Session durations increased by 40% over the next 30 days.
Remember: internal linking isn't just an SEO trick. It's about guiding attention in a nonlinear way, keeping people inside the ecosystem longer.
There’s a reason marketers are obsessed with video—it introduces emotion, tone, body language, and trust quickly. But adding a 3-minute video just to say "Welcome to our website" often backfires.
In one Webflow redesign for a local Franklin real estate firm, we embedded short profile videos into each agent bio on their team page. What was once the least-viewed page on their site became one of the most engaged. Clients spent more time reviewing team members—and conversions actually improved because people felt like they “knew” the agents before calling.
People don't bounce simply because your content is uninteresting. Sometimes they bounce because you offered too much too soon—or not enough when they were ready.
I worked with a gym chain that bombarded new visitors with an immediate pop-up: “Join Now and Save 20%!” On the homepage. Before they even knew what programs were available. We delayed that popup until 1 minute in, only showing it if someone had visited at least 2 pages. Engagement went up, form fills went up, and bounce went down.
Sometimes, your dwell time suffers not because you did anything wrong—but because you're ranking for the wrong queries. One of the most overlooked strategies is intent alignment.
For a Wordpress coaching site I audited, a high-traffic page was ranking for a keyword like “how to become a business coach.” But the page itself focused on hiring a coach. That mismatch led to an 85% bounce rate. When we restructured the content into two separate pages—one focused on learning to become a coach, another about working with one—metrics improved across the board.
Improving dwell time is not about gaming the clock. It’s about creating a digital experience that feels helpful, human, and inviting to stay. When users feel seen, understood, and guided—they stay longer. They click deeper. They come back.
As a web designer who often plays that hybrid role of consultant and “marketing therapist,” I can tell you: earning a visitor’s time starts with understanding their mindset. Not just as shoppers or prospects, but as people dealing with doubts, decisions, and distractions.
To recap, here’s how you can intentionally design for longer dwell time:
Each of these strategies isn’t just a tactic—they’re doors into deeper engagement. And in today’s increasingly crowded digital spaces, that’s how you stand out. Not with noise, but with resonance.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
