TRAFFIC
“There is an increasing correlation between how long
people stay on site and how well that site ranks for
that keyword group.”
algorithm. That tells us that whatever it is,
it has changed updates in real time and that
leads us onto two specific areas of interest
from a ranking perspective.
Ranking signals is something we track
as a group through the Roadmap tool2,
and below I can share some of the initial
findings from the latest data refresh.
Before we dive into what that data is
telling us, it is worth providing a caveat by
saying that the tool updates monthly and
the next update is due imminently, so we
will know much more then.
For now, however, there are already
points of interest worth discussing in the
context of the latest update.
Figure 2: Correlation between bounce rate and keyword rankings
Figure 3: Correlation of signals across the retail vertical
Roadmap
For those not aware of how this tool
works, it tracks dozens of key ranking
factors by vertical over time, allowing us
to understand how those factors affect
rankings and how they vary in importance.
While there is always variation, there are
two particular areas that have seen definite
upside in the past few weeks.
1. Time on site and usability factor
This is a data set we have been monitoring
for some time, as there is an increasing
correlation between how long people stay
on site and how well that site ranks for that
keyword group.
In Figure 1, we see that data plotted,
showing how long people stick around on
the site in positions one through to 15, on
average across all the verticals we track.
Whilst this hasn’t shot up as a key
3
ranking factor in the last month, there is
an unmistakable uptick in the number of
high-ranking sites with good time on site
metrics.
The same is true of bounce rate, which
you can see in Figure 2.
2. Social Signals
Where things start to get really interesting,
however, is when we turn our attentions to
social signals across the key platforms.
It’s an area that is a logical one for
Google to begin turning up, as they have
said previously that sharing is an obvious
validation of quality.
That stance was further qualified with
news that the search company had struck
a deal with Twitter to show tweets in real
2
http://www.stickyeyes.com/products/roadmap/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/twitter-said-to-reach-deal-for-tweets-in-google-search-results
iGB Affiliate %