Website Traffic Benchmarks by Industry

Author's avatar Analytics UPDATED May 29, 2024 PUBLISHED May 18, 2023 11 minutes read

Table of contents

    Peter Caputa

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    What if you could unlock the secrets to your industry’s online performance and gain a competitive edge? Our comprehensive report on website traffic benchmarks offers just that, providing valuable insights across various industries to help you navigate the digital landscape with ease. Take a closer look at six critical metrics which present a clear picture of your industry’s current performance.

    We examined sessions, users, pageviews, bounce rate, new users, and time on page across 15 industries, considering the unique factors that shape each one. From business types and seasonality to marketing strategies and industry trends, we’ve got you covered. And for an even deeper understanding, our Benchmark Groups offer additional metrics and insights, which companies can join for free.

    Are you ready to seize the opportunity and elevate your business to new heights?

    Let’s dig into the detailed breakdown of website traffic benchmarks by industry:

    Sessions

    Across all industries, the median value of website sessions for April 2023 was 3.93K.

    universal analytics sessions by industry

    Let’s take a closer look at sessions across different industries:

    IndustrySessions
    Apparel & Footwear18.16K
    Automotive11.2K
    Construction2.24K
    Consulting & Professional Services2.58K
    eCommerce & Marketplaces9.57K
    Education6.54K
    Food10.43K
    Health Care4.21K
    Health & Wellness4.29K
    Information Technology & Services3.56K
    Industrials & Manufacturing3.85K
    Real Estate3.22K
    SaaS3.16K
    Technology4.32K
    Travel & Leisure7.87K

    The Apparel & Footwear industry is the standout performer with the highest number of sessions, reaching 18.16K, which is nearly five times the overall median of 3.93K. Automotive, Food, eCommerce and Marketplaces, Education, and Travel & Leisure industries also excel in user engagement, significantly surpassing the median value. In contrast, Construction and Consulting & Professional Services report fewer sessions, indicating lower engagement. Other industries, such as Health Care, Health & Wellness, and Technology, align closer to the median, demonstrating average user interaction.

    PRO TIP: To increase the number of sessions, create tangential content that targets low-hanging fruit keywords. Focus on topics related to your industry or niche, but not directly about your core offerings, and optimize for specific, long-tail search queries. This strategy enables you to reach a wider audience, tap into less competitive keywords, and drive more targeted traffic to your website. Additionally, ensure that your content is well-optimized and includes internal links for SEO to improve search rankings and user engagement.

    To learn about growing your traffic, Brendan Hufford, the founder of Growth Sprints, shares how he grew ActiveCampaign’s traffic by 20% in just 30 days in our recent podcast episode.

    Users

    Across all industries, the median number of users for April 2023 was 3.02K.

    universal analytics users by industry

    Let’s take a closer look at the number of users across different industries:

    IndustryUsers
    Apparel & Footwear21.41K
    Automotive9.06K
    Construction1.86K
    Consulting & Professional Services1.91K
    eCommerce & Marketplaces7.08K
    Education5.37K
    Food6.12K
    Health Care2.46K
    Health & Wellness3.18K
    Information Technology & Services2.87K
    Industrials & Manufacturing3.04K
    Real Estate2.02K
    SaaS2.74K
    Technology3.66K
    Travel & Leisure7.12K

    The users benchmarks really shine a light on notable imbalances across industries. The Apparel & Footwear industry outpaces all others in user counts, boasting 21.41K users, more than seven times the median of 3.02K. Automotive, eCommerce and Marketplaces, Education, Food, and Travel & Leisure industries also exhibit strong user counts, well above the median, indicating strong user bases. In contrast, Construction and Consulting & Professional Services record fewer users, while the remaining ones align closely with the median.

    PRO TIP: To effectively track users on your website, focus on the ratio of new vs. returning visitors. This helps you understand the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns in attracting new users and the success of your content in retaining current ones. Analyze user demographics and behavior to refine your marketing strategies, and use this information to optimize user experience, increase engagement, and drive conversions.

    Pageviews

    Across all industries, the median value of pageviews for April 2023 was 8.82K.

    universal analytics pageviews by industry

    Let’s take a closer look at the number of pageviews across different industries:

    IndustryPageviews
    Apparel & Footwear192.86K
    Automotive25.79K
    Construction4.44K
    Consulting & Professional Services4.24K
    eCommerce & Marketplaces33.39K
    Education35.88K
    Food21.03K
    Health Care9.95K
    Health & Wellness6.9K
    Information Technology & Services8.68K
    Industrials & Manufacturing8.01K
    Real Estate9.03K
    SaaS7.14K
    Technology11.27K
    Travel & Leisure26.8K

    The pageviews benchmarks also show incredible variance between industries. The Apparel & Footwear sector stands out with an impressive 192.86K pageviews, more than 20 times higher than the median value. In stark contrast, the Consulting & Professional Services sector has the lowest number of pageviews at 4.24K, which is less than a third of the median. Industries such as Automotive, eCommerce & Marketplaces, and Education exhibit significant above-average Pageview counts, while the Construction sector falls below.

    PRO TIP: Track your website’s pageviews using a cumulative line graph to easily monitor growth or declines month-over-month. This helps you spot trends quickly and make any necessary adjustments to improve performance. Additionally, identify and leverage your website’s top-performing pages by using table visualizations. That way, you can concentrate your efforts on high-performing content, which can drive further engagement and conversions.

    Bounce Rate

    Across all industries, the median bounce rate for April 2023 was 60.78%.

    universal analytics bounce rate by industry

    Let’s take a closer look at bounce rates across different industries:

    IndustryBounce Rate
    Apparel & Footwear46.97%
    Automotive57.13%
    Construction67.24%
    Consulting & Professional Services66%
    eCommerce & Marketplaces58.11%
    Education57.95%
    Food56.62%
    Health Care58.29%
    Health & Wellness59.44%
    Information Technology & Services62.27%
    Industrials & Manufacturing58.4%
    Real Estate46.85%
    SaaS64.46%
    Technology61.53%
    Travel & Leisure54.66%

    The bounce rate metrics exhibit a relatively narrow range of values among industries, with most clustering near the overall median value. The Construction industry experiences the highest bounce rate at 67.24%, only about 7% higher than the median. On the other hand, the Real Estate and Apparel & Footwear sectors enjoy the lowest bounce rates, both at roughly 14% below the median. The remaining industries have bounce rates that closely align with the median value, demonstrating a general trend towards similar bounce rate levels across industries.

    PRO TIP: The best ways to improve your bounce rate are to improve the user experience of your website and to ensure your content aligns with user search intent. Optimizing load times and interlinking content are all basic steps. Faster sites are more pleasant to browse through, and speed definitely helps with search rankings. Optimize file sizes, eliminate code bloat, and streamline the design to ensure that visitors who visit your website stick around. 

    New Users

    Across all industries, the median number of new users for April 2023 was 3.66K.

    universal analytics new users by industry

    Let’s take a closer look at new users across different industries:

    IndustryNew Users
    Apparel & Footwear30.49K
    Automotive4.15K
    Construction1.7K
    Consulting & Professional Services2.11K
    eCommerce & Marketplaces6.56K
    Education10.95K
    Food11.2K
    Health Care2.85K
    Health & Wellness1.43K
    Information Technology & Services3.53K
    Industrials & Manufacturing2.89K
    Real Estate2.62K
    SaaS3.52K
    Technology5.31K
    Travel & LeisureMISSING

    The new users benchmarks show significant disparities among different sectors. Apparel & Footwear leads the pack with 30.49K new users, more than eight times the median value of 3.66K. On the other hand, the Health & Wellness sector has the lowest number of new users at 1.43K, well below the median. The Construction sector is close by with 1.7K new users. Industries such as Education, Food, and eCommerce & Marketplaces show above-average new user counts, while the remaining sectors cleave closer to the median.

    PRO TIP: The first step is to look closely at your analytics and find solutions that draw targeted new users. Then, based on your findings and goals, you can consider design changes, SEO or marketing strategy updates, and generating more backlinks. Identify what your target audience needs help with and dial in your content to provide it.

    Average Time on Page

    Across all industries, the median value for the average time on page for April 2023 was 1m 31s.

    universal analytics time on page by industry

    Let’s take a closer look at the average time on page across different industries:

    IndustryTime on Page
    Apparel & FootwearMISSING
    Automotive1m 25s
    Construction1m 46s
    Consulting & Professional Services1m 36s
    eCommerce & MarketplacesMISSING
    Education1m 28s
    Food1m 8s
    Health Care1m 27s
    Health & Wellness1m 26s
    Information Technology & Services1m 43s
    Industrials & Manufacturing1m 23s
    Real Estate1m 34s
    SaaS1m 45s
    Technology1m 46s
    Travel & LeisureMISSING

    The average time on page varies marginally across industries, with most adhering closely to the median of 1m 31s. The Construction, SaaS, and Technology industries exhibit the longest engagement, all around 15 seconds above the median. In contrast, the Food industry records the shortest time on page at 1m 8s. However, data is missing for the Apparel & Footwear, eCommerce and Marketplaces, and Travel & Leisure industries, limiting the scope of the analysis.

    PRO TIP: The best way to ensure visitors spend more time on your site is to make your website easy to navigate and mobile-friendly. You can also add interactive multimedia elements like videos, polls, quizzes, graphs, or infographics to make your content more engaging and encourage visitors to spend more time on your website.

    Website Traffic Benchmark Groups for All Industries

    The data presented in this article is sourced from Databox Benchmark Groups, which are organized by industry. These groups allow companies to anonymously share their performance data, helping everyone gain insights and improve their strategies to drive more traffic to their websites.

    To make this data even more valuable, we encourage you to join the relevant Benchmark Group for your industry or the group for all industries and contribute your own data. The more contributors we have, the more valuable the data becomes for everyone.

    Below is a list of Universal Analytics Industry Benchmark Groups we used to create this research report. Simply click on the link for your industry to review the group and join it.

    Leveraging Benchmark Groups to Drive Traffic and Growth

    Harnessing the power of website traffic benchmarks can make a significant impact on businesses seeking to fine-tune their online presence and make informed data-driven decisions. By assessing your website traffic metrics against industry benchmarks, you will uncover crucial insights about your position relative to competitors, pinpoint opportunities for growth, establish realistic objectives, and ultimately refine your online strategy for better performance.

    When you join a benchmark group, you’re not just helping us expand and refine our data – you’re also unlocking valuable insights that can help your business thrive. Benchmark Groups offer a range of benefits for users, including:

    • Identify emerging trends and opportunities: Benchmark Groups provide valuable information that can help you spot new trends and opportunities within your industry, enabling you to stay ahead of the curve and capitalize on these insights.
    • Optimizing resource allocation: By understanding how your performance compares to others in your industry, you can make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources to achieve the best possible results.
    • Improving client and investor relations: Sharing benchmark data with clients and investors can build trust and credibility, showcasing your company’s competitive edge and commitment to excellence.

    And that’s not all.

    Are you ready to take your digital performance to the next level? Join our Benchmark Groups today to unlock the full potential of website traffic benchmarks, and contribute to the growth of a vibrant community. Your participation not only enhances your own business performance but also enriches the data and insights available to everyone. Let’s work together to make better, data-driven decisions for the future of our businesses.

    Author's avatar
    Article by
    Nevena Rudan

    Marketing Research Analyst at Databox. Being an experienced Strategic and Creative Planner, with more than 15 years of practice, Nevena is passionately dedicated to untying the knots and entanglements of marketing, sales, and human behavior in order to deliver understandable, useful, and actionable insights for businesses.

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