What Is User Engagement and Why Is It Important for SEO?
User engagement plays a vital role in the success of a website. If searches fail to find a website and interact with it, there’s a huge probability that the website rankings would plummet.
Thus, a website should give importance to its visitors, and it should provide the correct solutions to whatever they need. If search engines like Google think your website does not address the user’s intent, then, it would find a better website that helps. Ultimately, a website should provide content according to the wants of its users.
Let us define: User Engagement.
Basically, user engagement means that your user is “taking action”. There should be some kind of activity within your site that is initiated by the user. This could be in a form of a page click, or any other action that implies a website activity.
So, what are these activities that matter?
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
First on the list is the CTR. The moment a user clicks your web page when they see it on the search results page, that action is counted as a page click.
Ideally, you would want your users to click, and get the answers they have been searching on your website. To ensure that you provide the best solution, you need top-notch content.
What makes users click a page? Before they get to read your content, users encounter the page title and meta description first. So, make sure that these 2 will be enticing enough for users to click.
Related: A List of Important On-Page SEO Elements
Actions Outside Your Website
User engagement does not necessarily happen on your website alone. It could be from other places. The engagements listed below are from outside origin:
- When someone posts links to your content.
- Someone mentions you and it was able to bring traffic to your website.
- Sharing your blog posts on social media could also be one.
Links coming from other websites remain to be one of the ranking factors. When many outside sources mention your website, it is a positive indication. Social media may not be directly a ranking basis. However, when people share your content online, the chances of it being read by many will definitely increase. Thus, it would mean more web traffic, more web visitors, higher chances of getting more links, and higher conversion rates.
Remember, liking and sharing happens on another platform, AND NOT YOUR WEBSITE. It would benefit Facebook, Twitter, or any other website you posted content on. So, it does not have an effect to your site. It does, however, boost your presence.
Dwell Time
Dwell time is the amount of time a user allocates viewing your content. After this user decides to click your page from the SERP, he will now spend time on your site looking intently at your content.
So, the question now… “Is the user satisfied on the content he just viewed? Was your web page the answer he is looking for?”
The user will now take time to assess if your content was able to answer their question. If it didn’t, the user will surely close your page and find a better website. If you notice that your bounce rates are high, it would mean that people are not staying on your site for too long.
Related: How to Lower Your Website’s Bounce Rate
Why Is User Engagement Important?
According to the Google algorithm update released on March 2019, Google emphasized that they are closely monitoring user engagements. This only means one thing: websites should focus on their user’s wants.
