How to Leverage Dwell Time for Better SEO Results

How Dwell Time Works

1. User searches online, typing a question or keyword into the search engine
2. User clicks on search result provided by the search engine 
3. User arrives on your web page and the session begins
4. User reads the content or watches a video, maybe interacting with different website elements
5. User leaves the page, returning to the search results
6. Search engines track how long the user spend on your site from when they clicked on the search result to when they leave your web page
7. Search engines use information on the dwell time of many users, adjusting your ranking accordingly.

How Dwell Time Impacts SEO

Dwell time can impact your SEO performance and rankings. The longer your website visitors spend on your page, the more search engines will perceive your content as engaging and high quality. Increased dwell times improve user experience, providing well-structured and engaging content, meeting your audiences needs.

High dwell time also reduces bounce rates, signalling to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant, positively impacting your SEO efforts.

Dwell Time Best Practices

There are some best practices you can follow to leverage dwell time for better SEO results:

• Improve content quality – creating engaging, valuable, and well-researched and well-structured content
• Improve user experience – add multimedia and interactive elements
• Improve page speed – compress images, minimise HTTP requests, consider using a content delivery network
• Mobile friendly – ensure your website is responsive, focusing on a mobile first design approach with optimised navigation
• Internal linking – use internal links to guide your website visitors to relevant content
• Content layout – add important content above the fold, while providing a clean and uncluttered layout, taking user experience into consideration
• Updated content – keep content updated and fresh to encourage longer dwell times, update outdated content with new information
• A/B testing – test different content versions and design elements to identify which one keeps users on your pages of longer
• User behaviour – monitor and analyse user behaviours using Google Analytics to monitor dwell time and engagement metrics.

Conclusion

Monitoring and analysing your website dwell time and implementing strategies to boost dwell time can positively impact your SEO results. If you are struggling to keep your website visitors on your web pages, get in touch with Genie Crawl. We can help you improve dwell time and engagement, reducing bounce rates, and helping to boost your ranking in SERPs. Contact us today for a free evaluation and quote.