Why Dwell Time is Important for SEO

Why Dwell Time is Important for SEO

If you’ve found our blog, you likely understand the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) and why your website needs it.  You’ve also likely heard that the types of things that the search engine algorithms use to rank websites change on a regular basis.

For example, in the early days of SEO, websites that incorporated a lot of keywords and keyword phrases into their content were rewarded mightily; today, websites that employ “keyword stuffing” practices get dinged.

Although certain fundamentals of what works and what no longer works are going to change over time, a trend that’s likely to remain stable relates to dwell rate.

Dwell what?

The search engine algorithms are constantly changing their model because they want to make sure that they’re providing people with the best possible search results for a given query.  In our last post we talked about the benefits of adding a blog. The reason for this is simple; search engines want to make sure they’re providing results that are current, relevant and worthy of a page-1 ranking.

If your website hasn’t been updated in months, the algorithms are going to wonder if your business is still open.

Search engines also want to make sure that websites are relevant— this is where dwell rate comes in. Simply defined, dwell rate is how long a viewer spends on your website. If you get a page-1 ranking, but your website is ridden with run-on sentences and misspelled words, viewers are likely to click back almost immediately. If this happens more often than not, the algorithms are going to take notice, and your ranking will be dinged.

When it comes to content, you’ll want to make sure your website text is attractive to humans and the algorithms alike. If you only write for one audience, you won’t be doing your SEO any favors.

Ok I’m confused

In some ways, you can equate good SEO to baking a cake.

To accomplish a page-1 ranking, you’ll need to use a combination of keywords, keyword phrases, well-written content, regular website updates, and backlinks (along with a bunch of other things that are probably too technical to address properly in a blog.)  Once you have all the ingredients ready to bake your proverbial cake, you’ll need to make sure you cook it at the proper temperature and for the right amount of time.  The latter part of this equation is your dwell rate.

If you’re interested in learning about dwell rate and why it’s important, call WBN Marketing today to speak with a digital marketing guru.