Google has been an essential part of search engine marketing for years. It’s a great way to get your website seen, but there are some subtleties that people don’t think about when they’re optimizing their site and overall SEO strategy. Google is constantly changing its algorithm, so you’ll need to watch the latest updates closely if you want to stay competitive.
Google’s ranking algorithm is a complex thing, but there are some factors that are known. It is important to keep in mind that Google does not rank websites based on their content alone. Read more in detail here: what is google ranking.
The dwell time is the period between clicking a link to visit a website and clicking the back button to return to the search results.
On paper, it seems to be a useful indicator for determining customer happiness. This may seem to be a justification for Google to give the website a better ranking in the SERPs.
Is dwell time, however, a true Google ranking factor?
Let’s look at what SEO professionals say, and then compare it to official Google pronouncements to see what the truth is.
Dwell Time Is A Ranking Factor, According To The Claim
In a 2011 blog post, Bing — not Google – coined the phrase “dwell time.” “It’s a signal we’re watching,” Bing remarked.
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According to experts, stay time is a Google ranking element, with a longer dwell time improving search position.
Dwell time is often investigated in correlation studies to demonstrate its importance in SEO. According to these research, a lengthy stay duration is associated with higher search ranks.
Other measures that have been disproved as Google ranking criteria, on the other hand, may be expressed in the same way.
When reading research on ranking criteria that aren’t acknowledged by Google, keep the adage “correlation doesn’t equal causation” in mind.
So, what is Google’s official stance on dwell time and its effect on search rankings?
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Dwell Time As A Ranking Factor: The Evidence
Google has constantly denied that dwell time, or any other indicator of user involvement, is a ranking component.
Gary Illyes, a Google engineer, previously addressed these beliefs and one of the people who spreads them, claiming that they’re all made up:
“Dwell time, CTR, and whatever Fishkin’s latest hypothesis is, they’re all nonsense.” “Searching is a lot easier than people assume.”
Martin Splitt, a Google engineer, rejected this hypothesis as well, claiming that user engagement data aren’t utilized in search.
These are just a few recent instances.
Every time stay time has been mentioned as a possible ranking component, Google has quickly debunked the hypothesis.
As a result, we’re not going to look at any information that claims dwell time has a direct influence on SEO since it’s just speculation.
That isn’t to imply that dwell time isn’t important. It’s a good approach to see how happy people are with the material on your website.
If you optimize for a longer stay time by providing more material for consumers to consume on your websites, you may have a positive, though indirect, influence on your results.
Our Opinion On Dwell Time As A Ranking Factor
We’re convinced that dwell time isn’t a direct Google ranking factor based on all of the facts.
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Let’s be clear: Google’s search team is most likely looking at dwell time (or whatever Google’s internal name for this statistic is) as well as other engagement data.
Keep in mind that dwell time is a measurement. It’s more of a check, a means for Google to see whether its algorithms are delivering the best possible search results.
Consider click-through rate, bounce rate, and other data points that you may measure in Google Analytics, Search Console, and other tools, such as dwell duration. Although these measures are all indicative of your website’s health, they have no direct influence on your rankings.
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You won’t be able to reduce your dwell time. You can, however, impact dwell time by making your content more helpful, interesting, distinctive, entertaining, and so on.
In the end, it’s all a waste of time. Only if you work for a search engine will you ever see dwell time data.
“Chasing dwell time is not a wise use of your time,” as Duane Forrester phrased it in his Search Engine Journal article, “What Is Dwell Time & Why It Matters for SEO.”
Bottom line: Google’s search rankings are unaffected by how people engage with websites after exiting search results. Any research, publications, or presentations that claim dwell time is a ranking component should be taken with a grain of salt.
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Paulo Bobita, featured picture
The “seo ranking factors 2020” is a question that has been asked for quite some time. It is still unknown whether it is a Google ranking factor, but many believe that it is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Analytics a ranking factor?
What are Googles top ranking factors?
A: In order to rank on Googles top results lists, a website must have good quality content and be regularly updated. Other factors that may influence ranking include freshness of the sites content, domains age and how many backlinks it has from other sites.
What is Google ranking based on?
A: Googles main ranking factors are the number of backlinks from other websites to a particular webpage, and how many visitors that particular webpage has.
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