As Search Engine Optimization practitioners turn their focus in the direction of user engagement as a measure of content success, columnist Ian Bowden says the regular wisdom surrounding user engagement metrics may, in fact, be misleading.
It comes with an assertion by many that low bounce rate and high average time on website are indicators of successfully executing content. In some situations, this will be true; however, in many others, it will be an incorrect flag. At worst, these metrics can even be indicators of poorly executing content.
Below are a few common misconceptions:
- Bounce rates should always be low across the site.
- A high average time on site indicates strong-performing content.
- A high average of pages per visit signals positive user engagement.
Make smarter optimization decisions
Implementing effective measurement frameworks to your content marketing initiatives will generate better goals, and for that reason, better optimization decisions. To get started:
- Categorize your content by user intent.
- Create a suitable measurement framework for each category.
- Create advanced segments within your analytics packages.
- Optimize.
Quite simply, creating content with the informational needs of the user in mind is most likely to deliver success.
For more information visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
