Engagement are your visitors interested or just distracted?
We hear a lot about engagement, but is it really important? Not always. The engagement is important only if it is true, Captain Obvious, and second when it really leads to effective conversions. So,
How do I know if the engagement that occurs on my site fulfills these two characteristics?
A very frequent defect in the cases that we value, is the lack of filters and configuration in Google Analytics. Most accounts have only implemented the basic control code and take for granted that the figures they see below are interesting.
Nothing further from the reality: figures without traffic filters are irrelevant (more so if traffic sources are not configured through UTMs and specific conversion points).
When analytics are not planned and configured correctly and observed from different levels of segmentation, the observed data have no use to make decisions regarding our marketing investments.
Returning to engagement , Let us look at one of the most frequent defects in interpretation. Let’s say that we have done some actions and we see that the number of pages per visit and the duration of the visit increase . All right!!
Or not so well? Having visitors who stay is good, but is it in itself a positive indicator? Many people will be left alone with this data and will celebrate it without further ado. Let’s look at an example graph. But is it in itself a positive indicator ? Many people will be left alone with this data and will celebrate it without further ado. Let’s look at an example graph. But is it in itself a positive indicator? Many people will be left alone with this data and will celebrate it without further ado. Let’s look at an example graph.
If we relate in the same view the duration factor of the visit with the conversions, we can see that what is actually happening is that we bring people who navigate but do not convert. That is, indicators with the naked eye seemed to say something like “ great, we bring people of great quality that stays a lot! ” And what actually happens is “ oh, we have carried out a campaign that has brought too many people who are distracted in our Content “. Sorry, that’s not what you say a granengagement.
When is there distraction and no real engagement, and how can we solve it?
- When we were wrong in the target . It is possible that we have captured a high set of visits that have an interest, but not an ability to convert. We reorientate the capture or we analyze more deeply that traffic to see what happens over time (does it return later and buy on subsequent visits? Does it become a potential in the medium or long term?).
- Our conversion calls are not well built. It is possible that the target is correct, but our circuits are not well traced. However, if an adequate conversion ratio was maintained earlier and lower in relation to the increase in the duration of visits, it would seem obvious that this is not the problem. Like everything in analytics, the data must be observed in context because it is the only way to make them useful.