Why Google is Prioritising User Engagement Over Clicks in Rankings

Understanding User Engagement

User engagement is a term used to measure how visitors interact with your website content. This can include how long they spend on your website to the comments they leave, along with any social media shares. Engagement means your content is valuable and relevant. Remember click through can easily happen by mistake, while engagement is always intentional.

Some forms of user engagement that are relevant today includes:

• Mobile optimisation – over half of Google searches are now carried out on mobile devices, therefore mobile optimisation has become a ranking factor. Ensure your website is responsive to all devices to improve user engagement
• Dwell time – how long a visitor spends on your website before returning to the search page. This means how well your website addressed the search query.
• Semantic search – Understand user intent and create valuable content that answers your audiences questions
• Click through rate (CTR) – it does still matter, as you cannot have engagement without an initial click 

Tips to Measure User Engagement

User engagement isn't very easy to quantify, you will need data analytics. When you track and monitor user engagement over time, you should focus on the following metrics to get the most valuable insights:

• Page views
• Top content
• New visitors
• Bounce rate
• Dwell time
• Conversions

What You Can Do Now to Boost User Engagement

You can start focusing on user engagement right now, by implementing the following:

Provide Interaction

You want your website visitors to stay on your pages for longer, increasing your dwell time and user engagement. Now while you can provide excellent text, images, and videos, focusing on interactive experiences can increase engagement considerably. Consider adding quizzes, calculators, and comparison searches to generate engagement.

Valuable Content

Producing valuable content is essential when it comes to user engagement. Create valuable, relevant, and helpful content that provides a valuable resource for your audience.

Consider Augmented Reality

While augmented reality hasn't been adopted to its fullest in the digital marketing world, it's important to remember that sixty one percent of consumers prefer retailers that offer AR experiences. They have become popular in the design industry, where it enables buyers to see how the products they are considering will work.

Incorporate Videos

Videos are well-received and a great way to share your message or share information. Websites that use video have a chance to capture the attention of the website users that are using up to eighteen hours of online videos weekly. 

Conclusion

User engagement has become an important metric to Google, over clicks when determining ranking. There are numerous creative ways to make your website more engaging, keeping your website visitors on your site for longer, boosting dwell time. At the same time, even the most engaging website can slip under the radar, which is why you need a strong social media and SEO strategy in place, ensuring that you continue to drive traffic to your website. Contact the Genie Crawl team today to find out more.