Does user behavior affect a site's position in Google search results? How can «click-through rate» (CTR) be used for SEO and site promotion?
User behavior and company ranking
Many users love Google because it allows them to quickly find the right products or services. Unsurprisingly, one of the search engine's ranking factors is just user behavior (UX).
You were in third place in the Google ranking yesterday but now you are first. This probably resulted from people clicking on your site. This indicates that you're providing the information users need.
To keep on top in rankings, you should understand how to measure user experience and use it as a tool to distinguish your site.
Indicators of user behavior
There are various metrics that can be used to study the user experience:
1. Click-through rate
When calculating this indicator, the number of clicks and impressions is taken into account. The first indicator is divided by the second, then the sum is multiplied by 100%. Why is Google doing this? Because the number of clicks clearly shows what users are interested in. The main mission of the search engine is showing people the content they want to see. Therefore, CTR makes it easy to quantify.
A site's click-through rate affects its rating in real time. The system responds quickly to user interest. With an increase in the number of clicks, the company's rating improves. Everything is very simple!
2. The period of time that the client spends on the page
The position of a site in search results is also affected by how many people stay after clicking on the link. The longer this session lasts, the better for the search engine and your company. People won't stay if the information isn't valuable. That's why this indicator is so carefully monitored by search engines.
This factor is very important for Google when ranking information resources. By increasing how long users stay, you're also likely increasing your rating.
3. User behavior on the site
There's a user behavior known as “pogo-sticking." This occurs when visitors to a site quickly leave because they aren't able to find the information they need. This is very bad because the user remains dissatisfied. They're unlikely to visit your resource again in the future.
Google is always interested in making the first result in the search as useful as possible to the user. The behavioral factor is necessary to reduce the number of «back» clicks after getting to the site that occupies the top position in the ranking.
How to apply user behavior to your advantage with the utmost efficiency
Your site can achieve a decent position in the search results by addressing all of the aforementioned factors. First of all, you need to increase your site's CTR. Don't forget that a user's first interaction with a resource occurs when they enter a query in Google and receive a list of optimal sites.
The first information that the user sees will be «meta tags». Therefore, it's necessary to pay attention to writing attractive titles and targeted descriptions. It's very important that they are engaging and have keywords.
The next step is to analyze the click-through rate. Here, you need to study different positions and estimate the percentage of clicks on your website. This will help you understand what positions you need to focus on.
To increase the user's period of time on the site, write detailed and optimized content. The information on the page must provide an exhaustive answer to the user's request. It is important to remember that regular content updates are the key to a successful ranking. The longer a person stays on the page, the better it is for the site.
To eliminate the possibility of pogo-sticking behavior, you need to make the resource user friendly. Low page loading speed and pop-ups are the «main enemies» of sites that force people to return to the search results. You should carefully ensure that your site is convenient in terms of navigation.
It's just easy to create a customer–oriented website. To accomplish this, conduct a thorough analysis of users' purchase histories and user behavior in your online store using the Evinent Analytics tool. This way, you can properly configure recommendation blocks. Customers will see the products that they are interested in and stay on the site for a longer period of time. As a result, your company can increase profits and rise in Google search rankings.
