How Does Dwell Time Affect SEO?

Is Dwell Time a Ranking Factor?

Most businesses are concerned about their website performance and ranking in Google SERPs. Bing, which is another very popular search engine, has advised that dwell time is a ranking factor for their algorithm, determining the quality of the web page.

Google, on the other hand, shows that if a search result has a positive reaction, their algorithm sees that as a good quality page. If the search results has a negative reaction, they assume it is not a good quality page. .

This makes dwell time a rather difficult subject, as we don't really know if it is a ranking factor or not, though it should be. What we do know, is that Google relies on click data when training their machine learning algorithms.

This shows that Google's machine learning algorithms are paying attention to the time a user spends on a web page. It is also known that Google does user UX metrics to identify the quality of a web page. 

Tips to Improve Dwell Time

Dwell time may be an excellent metric for measuring user experience on your website, but it is not a match for all search queries. At the same time, improving dwell time, can lead to improved SEO performance, in theory. It can help businesses boost brand visibility and conversion rates. There are ways to improve dwell time:

Engaging Content

Every piece of content you create should have an engaging title that captures the users attention. This introduction should include your selected keyword. Your intro should give the user information on what they are looking for, so give them a quick answer to their question. 

Give In-Depth Information

When you write an in-depth piece filled with interesting facts and information, users are more likely to stay on your page for longer. Provider searchers will helpful content that they want to read, encouraging them to stay for longer.

Add Graphics and Videos

Let's be honest, when you arrive on a web page to find information you need, the last thing you want is to stare at a page filled with text. In addition to using paragraph breaks in your content to break it up, you should also be using helpful graphics and videos. Graphics and videos can keep users engaged for longer. 

Focus on User Experience (UX)

When a visitor arrives on your website after carrying out a search on Google, the chances are they haven't been to your website before. You want to put your best foot forward, making a great first impression, keeping them on your site for longer. We all know, when a user stays on your site for longer, you increase your chances of securing a conversion.

Your website must be trustworthy and professional with easy to read content, high quality images, and clear author bylines. 

Conclusion

While there is a lot of controversy on whether dwell time affects SEO, it is safer to assume that it does. By working hard to lengthen dwell time on your website, you improve user experience. In turn, this reduces bounce rates, which we do know affects your SEO success.