Why engagement is crucial in SEO
Without overcomplicating it, SEO comes down to one word. Engagement. There are many ways in which marketers can take advantage of engagement in SEO such as using Google’s E-E-A-T criteria, prioritising user experience and implementing the basics such as meta descriptions and a strong backlink strategy. Let’s dive right in.
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Engagement is something which has been spoken about in recent years – especially when looking at Google’s recent algorithm updates. In fact, Google’s summer 2023 ‘Helpful Content’ update emphasised sites delivering strong user experience and publishing content that adds value.
What Is Engagement?
It’s obvious a lot of us know what engagement is, but it’s worth looking into what engagement is based on Google’s algorithm. If we look at recent Google products, such as the introduction of GA4, you may have noticed that Google has replaced ‘bounce rate’ with ‘engagement rate’ showing Google’s stance on the metric.
‘Engagement’ is a broad term, so it’s worth noting that there are several factors which go into ensuring your content is engaging. Ultimately, websites need to ensure that the content they produce relates to their target audience, they offer a seamless website experience so users can easily consume the content, and the content is of relevance and authority. So let’s dive into each area of how you can create engaging content…
Google's E-E-A-T Criteria
In 2022, Google updated their quality rater guidelines to add an extra ‘E’ to their previous E-A-T concept with ‘experience’. This is now made up of four factors; experience, enterprise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.
But how does this link to the concept of engagement? Well, ‘content created to be original and helpful for people’ relates to the factors above. By keeping these in mind while writing your content, you are more likely to resonate with your audience and increase engagement, therefore being rewarded in return.
Let’s think of it like this – if you’re writing a content piece which drives low engagement, you’re less likely to be seen as a reliable source – therefore, won’t see the SEO benefits. The key is understanding your audience and creating content for them – not the algorithm. It’s safe to say the days of keyword stuffing are long gone.
What Are The Other Search Ranking Factors?
Content Freshness
Unfortunately, updating your website once a year and ignoring blogs isn’t going to get you seen. Just because you have a website with content from 2013 doesn’t mean you’re doing to rank. It’s going to hurt your chances more.
Consistent publication of high-quality content takes up the highest weighting in Google’s ranking factors at 21%, with content freshness taking up 6% (up versus last year). This shows that Google is putting more emphasis on this area – but notice how ‘high-quality content is mentioned’. Ensure you’re posting relevant and engaging content rather than posting for posting sake. Remember – produce content for your audience, not the algorithm.
Mobile-Friendly & Mobile-First Indexing
For a while now, Google has prioritised mobile experiences – and this is still a key part of their ranking factors taking up 4% of the pie. While it may seem low, it’s key that your website is optimised for mobile as this will also improve the overall website user experience and drive further engagement, You get where we’re going with this…
User Experience
Imagine this. You Google a question and finally find an article which relates to your issue. You click on the website which takes a long time to load, and when you’re finally on there, you’re bombarded with loads of pop-ups and ads. What are you most likely to do? Bounce.
This is, in fact, true for many user experiences with 70% of US users being annoyed by pop-up ads, and according to SearchEngineLand, the primary reason for blocking a site is annoying ads.
The key point? Work with your user experience teams. While you may think your content piece is the next big SEO thing, if your user experience is poor, your brilliant creative skills are less likely to be rewarded. Did we mention that user experience takes up 11% of Google’s overall ranking factors? Don’t sleep on it.
Don’t Forget The Basics
Of course, doing the above will help with the algorithm – but it also needs the basic signals which have existed in the SEO sphere for years. For example, keywords in meta title tags are the 2nd highest ranking factor at 15% with backlinks taking up 14%.
By implementing a strong backlink and outreach strategy, you’re proving just how authoritative you are in your industry. Think of it like this – other websites are referencing your content – so it must be relevant. Spend a couple of hours each week perfecting your backlink strategy by using tools such as SEMRush’s FREE backlink tool.
I’ve Created Engaging Content - How Do I Measure It?
The key to any strategy is ensuring you measure its performance – after all, how do you know if it’s successful or not?
As mentioned at the start, GA4 now includes metrics such as ‘engagement rate’ which will help you measure how engaging your content is. Benchmark your engagement rate at the start versus after you complete the optimisation work. Are there any pages that still have a low engagement rate? Are there any channels that have low engagement rates?
By analysing this data you can drive deeper conclusions such as, is the channels you’re posting on that has low engagement rates the right one? If it’s low from organic and/or paid search, are you targeting the right keywords and utilising the right landing pages?
Key Takeaways
One big takeaway which we have mentioned throughout this piece is the need to create content for your audience, rather than the algorithm. By creating content for the algorithm, you’re working against it.
Ensure your content is engaging by utilising a strong user experience (both on mobile and desktop) and ensure your content aligns with the E-E-A-T criteria. Also, make sure to freshen up the content on your website consistently – but make sure it’s high-quality!
