Search engines look for engaging content that encourages interactions with web users. There are a variety of ways that Google and its peers will measure engagement, so  you will need to be mindful of each.

Impress Google and keep content fresh

One of the key metrics to look at is the length of time searchers remain on your web page. Do they tend to search, click and land on the page only to leave immediately to search through the remaining results? If users are dipping in and out this quickly, the search engines will be able to detect this and may deduce that your content is less than engaging.

On the other hand, do people spend long periods of time reading the content in comparison to other similar websites? The ‘long click’ metric is one of the ways search engines will measure engagement and the overall content value to its users. Social behaviour, such as sharing, comments and ‘likes’, also highlight whether content is engaging or not.

It’s difficult to get true confirmation from Google as to how engagement is measured, but most SEO experts are certain that this form of user interaction is monitored and will affect rankings.

Keeping searchers engaged

One sure way of encouraging user interaction is by making sure that you post regular, original content. ‘Fresh’ content is the lifeblood of any online marketing strategy. This doesn’t mean that simply updating web pages will do the trick. Also, adding reams of new pages for the sake of it will not send your freshness score soaring.

On the other hand, Google’s ‘Query Deserved Freshness’ (QDF) does identify those search terms that become highly popular in comparison with standard terms. In these circumstances, Google adds QDF to highly popular terms and identifies content relating to them, boosting its position in the rankings.

Keep in mind that search engines value user interaction, so keep content fresh and engaging.

Steven Morris