User Signals & SEO: User Signals as a Ranking Factor

Play user signals a decisive role for the ranking in the Google search results. But which factors does Google measure exactly and how do they influence the ranking of your website? In this article, we take a look at the most important user signals - from click-through rate (CTR) to bounce rate and dwell time - and explain how Google interprets them. We'll also show you how you can optimise these signals to improve your SEO strategy.

What are user signals?

Let's start at the very beginning: Every time you visit a website via Google, the search engine collects data on the click-through rate of the search results displayed and, via analytics, on the time spent on the page and the bounce rate. This also answers the question of which user signals exist, namely:

• the click-through rate (CTR)
• the Bounce rate
• the dwell time

"That's all there is to it?" Of course not! Even though these user signals are among the most important, Google also measures other factors, including

• the frequency of returning visitors
• the login readiness
• the type-in & bookmark traffic

Click-Through-Rate (CTR)

Now we know what user signals there are - but how does Google evaluate this data? Let's start with the CTR (click-through rate). It describes how often a search result is clicked on in relation to the impressions on the SERPs. Put simply: If your page appears 1000 times in the search results but is hardly clicked on, your CTR is poor. As Google registers this user behaviour, your page may slip down the rankings as a result.

If you are in first place, your CTR should be at least 30 % to maintain the top rank. In the lower ranks, a CTR in the single-digit range is often sufficient.

Whether a user decides in favour of your search result depends not only on your placement, but also on the snippet. The CTR for position 1 must therefore be correspondingly high. You can improve it by increasing the Optimise the meta title and meta description.

Improve click-through rate

• Pick up on the intention behind the search query and create click incentives.
• Make it clear with the SEO title that the user will find exactly the information they are looking for.
• Be aware of what you want to rank for with a URL - after all, you can only assign one meta description and one title tag per page.

Bounce rate & dwell time

Other important user signals are the bounce rate and the dwell time. Although these are two different things, they are closely related.

• The Bounce rate shows how many users leave your site after a few seconds. A high value indicates that your site does not offer what the user expected - a bad signal for Google.
• One High dwell time on the other hand, shows that the content is relevant and interesting. If users then click on further internal links, this sends further positive signals to Google.

Reduce bounce rate & increase dwell time

• Offer high-quality, relevant content that precisely matches the search intention.
• Use a sidebar with Related Contentto keep visitors on your site.
• Avoid hiding the most important information at the very end of the text - users are impatient and will otherwise quickly jump off again.

If your text needs to be very long, a Table of contents with jump labels to help users quickly find the places that are relevant to them.

Tip: Include small pieces of additional information in your text that fit the topic and link internally to suitable posts. This will increase the length of stay and make your content even more valuable.

Rand Fishkin's User Signals Experiment

The well-known online marketing expert Rand Fishkin conducted an exciting experiment in 2015: he asked his Twitter followers to search for "best grilled steak" on Google and leave the first result immediately. They were then asked to click on the fourth result and stay on the page for longer.

The result? After just a short time, the fourth result jumped to number 1! This experiment shows impressively how strongly user signals can influence the ranking.

Returning visitors

Google also evaluates how many users return to your site again and again. A high number of returning visitors is a sign of good content. This is particularly valuable:

• Type-in traffic (if someone enters your URL directly into the browser)
• Login readiness (when users log into a backend of your site)
• Bookmark (when users save your page)

How can you attract returning visitors?

Quite simply: Offer unique, exciting and well-prepared content!

Our tip: Invest in high-quality content - a good SEO copywriter can make all the difference. Instead of rewriting old content, he should Unique content with real added value create.

Where does Google get the data from?

Google collects user signals in various ways:

1. Google Analytics cookies
   
   • Most websites use Google Analytics. This automatically collects user data.
2. Google Chrome
   
   • With around 50 % market share worldwide, Chrome is one of the main sources of Google's data collection.
3. Android
   
   • If you use an Android smartphone, your account gives Google valuable insights into your search and usage behaviour.

Conclusion

Whether your website ranks well depends on more than just a single user signal. It is the interplay of various factors that determines whether Google classifies your page as relevant or not.

Of course, there are limits to the evaluation of user signals - but with RankBrain (Google's AI-supported algorithm), the search engine is becoming increasingly intelligent. User signals are compared with each other and combined with other data so that Google is getting better at recognising which pages offer real added value.