Behavioral factors and their influence on the SEO strategy

Behavior of users on the network

People are not always rational – they make decisions under the influence of impulses and external stimuli. In that case, it is impossible to reduce human behavior to mathematical equations or logical sets. Moreover, relying solely on search engine ranking factors in the case of optimization and positioning may not be sufficient.

Technical SEO is one of the things that needs to be taken care of. That is why it is important to study the behavior of users on the network. We need to analyze their preferences, activity and interests in order to adjust the website and content accordingly. Factors such as user interface design, site navigation, visual content, and content structure can have a great influence on the success of a campaign. Taking into account the behavior of users on the network is essential for any comprehensive strategy.

The different types of behavioral factors

It is impossible to create a complete list of behavioral factors because they depend primarily on the industry. Therefore, keywords, content or link profile change. Nevertheless, we can distinguish a few elements that are worth paying special attention to when positioning.

Bounce Rate

BR is one of the most important behavioral factors to take into account. It measures how many people leave a website after visiting just one page. It is an indicator of the user’s interaction with the website and how engaging it is. A high Bounce Rate indicates that the user did not find what they were looking for and that your website does not provide relevant information for them.

Click Through Rate

CTR measures the number of clicks a given link receives compared to the number of times it is viewed. It’s an important indicator of how engaging your content is and how likely it is to be clicked on by users. An increased score means that more people are interested in your content and more likely to click on your link in the search engine results. A low Click Through Rate, on the other hand, means fewer people are engaging with your content, which could affect your rankings.

Dwell time and time on site

Dwell time is the time it takes from clicking a link to a given page to returning to the list of search results. It has not been confirmed whether this value is a direct ranking factor, but as you know – only Google knows the full list. Time on site, on the other hand, shows how engaged visitors are with your website and content. If visitors stay on the site for longer than expected, it could mean that they are finding interesting content or engaging with products.

Inputs repeatability

Input repeatability is the number of times a user visits the same page or website in a given period. It indicates how likely a user is to return to your website, which is an important factor for optimizing and positioning in the search engine. Input repeatability can be seen as an indicator of user engagement with the content of your website and loyalty to it.

User Experience

Last but not least – UX. It can be defined as the overall satisfaction a user experiences when using a product or service, including all interactions with that product or service. User Experience is concerned with the ease of use, visual appeal, and general effectiveness of a website or app. This is an element closely related to the optimization and adaptation of the website to the needs of recipients and trends.

Do they affect optimization and positioning?

If you still have doubts, we answer: yes. They are an important indicator of user engagement with content and websites, and help determine the ranking of a website in the search engine result pages.

User expectations and position in the search engine

When it comes to SEO, user expectations play a major role in determining your website’s position in the search engine. Your website needs to meet and exceed the expectations of your users in order to achieve optimal search engine ranking. When users search for something on the internet, they expect to be presented with relevant results. If your website fails to deliver that, then it can significantly reduce your chances of appearing on the first page of the search engine results.

Buyer’s journey – e-commerce insight

Understanding the buyer’s journey is essential for businesses and marketers looking to optimize their SEO strategy. The buyer’s journey starts when a potential customer first engages with your business. As they travel down the path of learning more about your products or services, they’ll go through different stages, such as awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty. Each stage presents its own opportunities and challenges for e-commerce businesses.

How to use behavior data to improve your strategy?

The first step is to understand the search intentions of the users, which are obviously associated with a predefined target group. Therefore, search intent is the user’s motivation that needs to be known in order to position the website. Here we enter the area of marketing psychology to create a profile of recipient behavior. Data collected via Google Search Console and Google Analytics will be helpful in this regard.

The second step is keywords. The better the phrase matches, the higher the ranking. It is worth considering general phrases – the most competitive, branded, long-tail and those related to the location of users. Create a database that you will expand and use when creating content.

The third step is to use sitemap.xml, robots.txt file and heat map. Each of them has an impact on the page indexing speed and will illustrate how users navigate the site. The map is crucial in this context, because thanks to it you will find out whether the interactive elements on the website are visible and effective, whether the implemented navigation works, whether the recipients get acquainted with the content on the website, what elements (titles) are popular, which parts of the website are most often visited that your visuals are displayed correctly.

Wrapping up

By studying user behavior on the network, SEO teams can gain valuable insights into how their efforts are performing and how they can improve their strategies. You can tailor the strategies to better reach the target audience and improve the search engine ranking. Additionally, by taking into account user behavior, you can create content that resonates with the target audience and increases the chances of achieving higher rankings in search engines. So, what are you waiting for?