For years, the standard engagement metric most marketers relied on was pages per visit. It fit neatly into early, session-based analytics models where user behavior was relatively linear: someone arrived, clicked around a bit, and left. As the web evolved, however, that construct became increasingly artificial.
Modern users move fluidly across devices, return at irregular intervals, open multiple tabs, and re-engage through search, social, email, and notifications. In that environment, a visit is no longer a meaningful unit of engagement, and pages-per-visit often misrepresents how people actually consume content.
Table of ContentsViews Per UserMartech Zone’s Views Per UserStrategies To Increase Views Per UserPerformance As The Invisible Engagement DriverSuperior DesignContent Cleanup As An Engagement StrategyInternal Linking That Follows Intent, Not StructureRelated Content That Actually Feels RelatedMobile Experience As A Primary, Not Secondary, Design ConcernProgressive Depth Instead Of Content OverloadOn-Site Discovery Through Search And Content HubsRelevant Calls-To-ActionMeasuring What Actually Drives ContinuationThe Bigger Picture
Views Per User
Views per user emerged as a more accurate reflection of engagement because it shifts the focus from sessions to people. Rather than measuring activity within an arbitrary time window, it captures how much content a user consumes over time, regardless of how or when they return.
This aligns better with modern analytics capabilities, privacy constraints, and relationship-driven marketing strategies that emphasize trust, education, and long-term value. It also avoids the distortions that session-based metrics introduce, rewarding sites that create cohesive journeys and reasons to return rather than those that simply manufacture extra clicks.
Martech Zone’s Views Per User
Over the last year, one of my primary areas of focus on Martech Zone has been cleaning up the site and its archive with a particular goal in mind: increasing views per user. For a long time, this was a quiet weakness. At one point a few years ago, Martech Zone was hovering around 1.01 views per user, which meant the overwhelming majority of visitors arrived, read a single article, and left. There was no journey. There was no continuation.
Today, that number has grown to 1.27 views per user. That may not sound dramatic at first glance, but at scale it represents thousands of additional content interactions, longer sessions, stronger engagement signals, and a far healthier content ecosystem. With zero-click and lagging search engine visits, this engagement continues to grow my site’s engagement significantly.
The improvement did not come from a single change or clever trick. It came from consistent work across four core areas: improving site speed and performance, cleaning up and properly tagging old posts so related content is actually relevant, cleaning up and tagging posts to improve internal site search, and optimizing the overall user experience, especially on mobile.
Those efforts form the foundation for everything that follows. Increasing views per user is not about forcing extra clicks. It is about removing friction, increasing relevance, and giving readers a clear reason to continue.
Strategies To Increase Views Per User
Views per user is one of the clearest signals of whether your content is doing its job beyond the first impression. A single-page session may indicate that a visitor found precisely what they needed, but at scale, it usually means the site failed to spark curiosity, confidence, or momentum.
For marketers, higher views per user correlate strongly with increased brand trust, stronger conversion rates, improved return visits, and better downstream performance across email, paid media, and organic search. It also improves the quality of behavioral data feeding analytics platforms and personalization systems, making future experiences more relevant.
Here are strategies to improve your views per users:
Performance As The Invisible Engagement Driver
The first and most impactful improvement I made on Martech Zone was performance. Speed is not a technical vanity metric; it is an engagement multiplier.
When a second page loads slowly, users subconsciously reassess whether continuing is worth the effort. Technologies such as efficient caching strategies, modern image formats, reduced JavaScript execution, server-side rendering, and careful third-party script management directly influence whether a visitor explores further.
From a marketer’s perspective, performance work is foundational. Every strategy designed to increase views per user assumes that the next click feels effortless. Without that, even the best content loses momentum.
Superior Design
Design plays a quiet but decisive role in whether users continue reading or disengage. Readable fonts, appropriate line lengths, and sufficient contrast reduce cognitive strain, making it easier for visitors to stay oriented and absorb information. Proper use of whitespace is equally important. When content is allowed to breathe, it feels more approachable, less overwhelming, and easier to scan, which encourages readers to move deeper rather than abandon the page.
Effective layouts guide attention instead of competing for it. Strong visual hierarchy, consistent alignment, and predictable patterns help users intuitively understand where to focus next. Section headings signal progress, call-outs reinforce key ideas, and well-structured bulleted lists break complex information into manageable pieces. Subtle font styling, used sparingly and consistently, adds emphasis without distraction.
When design supports comprehension and flow, it becomes an engagement tool rather than a cosmetic layer. Visitors are more likely to continue reading, explore related content, and build trust in the site itself. Superior design does not draw attention to itself; it quietly removes friction, making additional views per user feel natural rather than intentional.
Content Cleanup As An Engagement Strategy
Older content is often a site’s most significant liability and its biggest opportunity.
On Martech Zone, many older posts were still valuable but poorly structured, inconsistently tagged, or disconnected from the rest of the archive. Cleaning them up was not about rewriting everything. It was about clarifying what each post is about and ensuring it belongs logically within the site.
Accurate tagging and categorization are critical here. When tags are overly broad, inconsistent, or used as an afterthought, related content modules become irrelevant noise. When tags reflect true topical relationships, related posts become natural next steps rather than distractions.
This same cleanup dramatically improves internal site search. When posts are tagged and appropriately structured, search results feel intentional rather than random. Visitors who use on-site search tend to be highly motivated. Helping them find what they are looking for and what they did not yet know they wanted increases organic views per user.
Internal Linking That Follows Intent, Not Structure
One of the most overlooked engagement tactics is internal linking that mirrors how readers think.
Navigation menus reflect how organizations categorize content. Internal links embedded within articles should reflect curiosity and intent. When a reader encounters a concept they want clarified, expanded, or applied, the next link should already be available.
This is not about flooding content with links. It is about placing links where interest naturally peaks and framing them around value rather than mechanics. The difference between read more and see how this works in practice is subtle but meaningful.
Technologies that analyze semantic similarity or historical user paths can assist with this, but disciplined editorial linking alone can significantly increase views per user.
Related Content That Actually Feels Related
Related content modules only work when they respect context.
Basic implementations rely on shared categories or publication dates, which often fail to match reader intent. More effective approaches consider topical similarity, behavioral patterns, and content depth. A reader finishing an introductory article should see practical follow-ups, not advanced tangents. A reader deep into a topic should be offered comparison pieces, frameworks, or counterpoints.
Placement matters as well. Related content performs best when it appears before a natural exit point or immediately after a key insight, rather than being buried at the bottom of the page after attention has faded.
Mobile Experience As A Primary, Not Secondary, Design Concern
For Martech Zone, optimizing the mobile experience was one of the most impactful changes.
Mobile users are not impatient because they are distracted. They are impatient because mobile interfaces amplify friction. Small tap targets, intrusive popups, shifting layouts, and heavy pages disproportionately reduce views per user on phones.
Optimizing for mobile means prioritizing readability, stable layouts, fast interactions, and clear continuation cues. Technologies that support responsive layouts, adaptive loading, and touch-friendly components are essential, but the mindset matters just as much. Mobile should be treated as the default experience, not the simplified version.
Progressive Depth Instead Of Content Overload
Another effective strategy for increasing views per user is progressive disclosure.
Rather than attempting to answer every question on a single page, content should introduce concepts clearly and then guide readers toward deeper exploration. This mirrors how people learn. Once they understand the basics, they naturally want examples, applications, and edge cases.
Expandable sections, clearly framed follow-on articles, and contextual prompts all encourage continuation without overwhelming the reader upfront. You can see this first-hand by clicking on an acronym on my page. Rather than navigating them away from the article, the definition appears in a nice modal window.
On-Site Discovery Through Search And Content Hubs
Internal site search is often underestimated as an engagement tool. When implemented well, it becomes a primary driver of views per user.
Search technologies that support relevance ranking, synonym recognition, and predictive suggestions help users articulate curiosity even when they are not sure what to click next. Topic hubs, filtered archives, and curated collections further support self-directed exploration.
The key is making discovery feel intentional rather than accidental.
Relevant Calls-To-Action
Effective calls-to-action (CTA) extend the content journey rather than interrupt it, offering a logical next step that aligns with what the reader just consumed. This starts with relevance. CTAs should be directly connected to the topic, depth, and purpose of the page, reinforcing curiosity instead of forcing a decision.
Personalization and segmentation further increase views per user by acknowledging that not all readers are in the same place. First-time visitors, returning readers, and highly engaged users should not see identical prompts. Even simple segmentation based on referral source, visit frequency, or content category can dramatically improve continuation.
Exit intent deserves a special mention. While I do not use exit intent prompts on Martech Zone, they can be effective when used thoughtfully, especially when the known traffic source may represent a less engaged or more transactional audience. In those cases, exit intent can serve as a last opportunity to redirect attention toward relevant content rather than losing the visitor entirely.
Measuring What Actually Drives Continuation
Increasing views per user requires ongoing observation and adjustment.
User flow analysis, path exploration reports, and engagement segmentation reveal where journeys stall and where they flourish. Minor changes to link placement, content order, or recommendation logic often produce meaningful gains.
On Martech Zone, the jump from 1.01 to 1.27 did not come from a single breakthrough. It came from dozens of minor, compounding improvements that respected the reader’s time and intent.
The Bigger Picture
Increasing views per user is not about inflating metrics. It is about building trust one page at a time. When visitors consistently choose to read one more article, it signals that your content feels cohesive, your site feels reliable, and your brand feels worth their attention.
For marketers, that is the real objective. Views per user is simply the measurable outcome of doing the fundamentals well.
©2025 DK New Media, LLC, All rights reserved | DisclosureOriginally Published on Martech Zone: 10 Ways to Increase Your Site’s Page Views Per User