Do you know how to ensure your home improvement website supports a strong user experience? If not, you could be suffering in the search engine rankings. 

As a business marketing your services online, you are not Google’s primary customer—the user is. Google makes decisions all the time about SEO that cater to user experience, and that means optimization is about way more than keywords in 2019. Here are three metrics to keep your eye on (and improve) for successful home improvement marketing in the new year. 

Organic Click-Through Rate 

Click-through rate (CTR) refers to how often individuals click on links to your website. If people are clicking through to your site often when it appears in the search results, Google assumes you have a strong listing that matches user intent for the search. It rewards you by bumping you up in the rankings. 

Improve your CTR with strong title tags and meta descriptions that entice the user to click on your site.  

Bounce Rate 

Bounce rate is how rapidly a visitor leaves your site instead of navigating to other pages on your domain. It matters to Google because a high bounce rate suggests your site isn’t living up to the promise you made in meta descriptions and title tags. Your site isn’t relevant to the search, isn’t helpful enough for users to continue to other pages, or is so difficult to use, the person can’t be bothered to stick around. 

Lower your bounce rate with compelling landing pages and content that persuades users to take action, such as clicking through to see galleries of your finished window projects or completing an online content form to schedule an in-home service consultation. 

Dwell Time 

Dwell time is how long someone spends on your page. Google really likes this one, because it means the user found your page helpful (and usable) enough to stick around and interact with the content.  

The average dwell time for a first-page Google result is just over three minutes. That sounds like a short time, but it’s almost impossible to achieve without great page content that follows best home improvement marketing practices. 

In 2019, the way users experience your site—on mobile and desktop— is critical to SEO success. Take time to evaluate your site performance and content to get ahead in the new year. 

(Note: Want to know the top techniques for turning online searchers into real-life clientele? Ring Ring Marketing’s book explains it all—and right now, it’s 100% free, shipping included! Order here!)