This is the shortest SEO short yet. I’m barely scraping in at 300 words so have a very quick read even by my other shorts’ standards. Like my case study on readability I hope this proves short content can still rank well.
It’s intuitive isn’t it? You want your users engaging with your site. It’s basic logic as well if people like your content they will spend longer reading it. Right?
Most SEOs would agree, and even analytic systems (Eg Google analytics) show a reduced time on site in red, while an increase in green. Red means danger, stop while green means go. Surely Google are telling you a low time on site is bad?
I want to refute this SEO myth. Yes – if you have a blog you want your users to read the whole thing. Ideally you then want them to read your next blog and engage with you, maybe reach out to make a post themselves.
Even so low time on site could mean a myriad of things.
- If your site is well laid out you have caught a users’ eye and they have gone straight to contacting you.
- Like the first point Older users may prefer talking to somebody in person could just be looking for a phone number.
- Your user had a query which you answered quickly. Great!
- The page doesn’t have much content but it is highly targeted.
- Your user is checking a product you sell with the intention of buying later.
- A user is bookmarking you for later – again similar to the last point however great if they use chrome.
So there you are – six reasons why you may have a low time on site but retain a strong search presence and conversions. These logical paradoxes are probably why Google state they don’t use analytic data. Please let me know what you think in the comments and check my other SEO Shorts for simple DIY marketing techniques.
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