To provide us with even better search results, Google discovered user signals some time ago. The principle behind it is simple: Every visitor to a website sends both positive and negative signals, which the search engine analyzes for quality assessment. It distinguishes between three to five classic user signals:
Click-through rate – number of clicks on a search result in relation to impressions (click-through rate)
Dwell time – the average length of time visitors stay on a website (Dwell Time, Time on Site)
Scroll depth – indicates how far visitors scroll down on a website (scroll depth)
Bounce rate – number of visitors who leave the website on the entry page
Return rate – indicates how many visitors return to the search results (Return to SERP Rate)
Although these user signals should of course be assessed separately, when viewed together, chile phone number data they can provide insights into how well a website resonates with search engine users. A high click-through rate, for example, indicates a relevant and engaging snippet (a short summary of a web page in the form of a text segment on the search results page). A high dwell time suggests that the page is interesting and therefore relevant to the visitor.
A short dwell time, on the other hand, is usually interpreted by Google's algorithm as meaning that the visitor wasn't satisfied (quickly enough) and therefore left the page relatively quickly. If, on the other hand, they stay on a page longer, it seems to be interesting and relevant to them. However, this isn't a rule that should necessarily be relied upon. A short dwell time can simply mean that the visitor's question was answered quickly. In other words, they quickly found exactly what they were looking for—a positive sign!
Design & Usability significantly influence user signals
This is precisely where the topic of design and usability comes into play, as both individual areas now have a significant influence on user signals and are therefore inevitably important ranking factors. Web design today no longer just ensures a beautiful visualization of web content—it can also significantly influence the website's ranking. In other words: design can also be used very effectively for search engine optimization.
When designing a website, it's therefore less important that it looks super stylish and funky. It's much more important today that the design fits the purpose of the site. After all, the user experience is ultimately crucial for rankings. Visitors must be able to find their way around the site quickly and easily. They generally approach it intuitively with less desire to read. The design must therefore guide the eye so that it quickly finds what it's looking for. From an SEO perspective, a good design therefore has a lot to do with familiarity. A design that is too modern or unusual is more likely to confuse or scare visitors and thus cause a loss in rankings, even if it may appear artistically remarkable.
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