Dwell is the amount of time a visitor spends on a page after clicking on it. How long a user stays on your page is one of the metric search engines use to identify if your page has content that matches with user search intent or if it has useful information. A higher dwell time is seen as a positive sign by search engines.
If a user comes on your page and leaves quickly, it tells the search engines that your content does not match with the user’s search intent. If they stay longer and scroll and read your content, it means your content is matching with user search intent.
Why Does Dwell Time Matter?
SEO tools doesn’t directly tell you the dwell times of your visitors, but digital marketing experts believe it is one of the metrics used by search engines to judge the quality of a page. Because search engines try to show the results that are useful for their users. That’s why when users spend more time on a page, it sends a positive sign to search engines.
Higher dwell time usually means:
- Content is engaging and relevant
- Visitors are finding what they came for
- Page optimization is good
Slow loading speed and bad website design, including confusing navigation, can also lead to low dwell time.
How to Improve Dwell Time?
The best way to increase dwell time on your page is to write quality and helpful marketing content that is simple to read and understand for users. Short paragraphs, bullet points and pictures can make your content easier to read and understand. Mobile optimisation is also a key factor since the majority of the users scroll the internet through their mobile phones, so optimising your content for mobile helps in increasing dwell time.
