What is scroll depth?

Scroll depth is a measure of how far down the page a user scrolls. It can be used to track engagement on a page, as well as to understand how far users are willing to scroll to find the content they're looking for. Scroll depth can be measured in pixels or percentages, and can be tracked using analytics tools like Google Analytics. In general, a higher scroll depth indicates a more engaged user, and can be used to optimize the layout of a page to encourage further exploration.

What does dwell time mean in SEO?

Dwell time is a measure of how long a user spends on a particular page before moving on to another. It is an important metric for SEO (search engine optimization) because it indicates how engaged users are with the content on a given page. If dwell time is high, then it means that users are finding the content relevant and engaging, and are likely to continue using the site. Conversely, if dwell time is low, then it may indicate that users are not finding the content relevant or engaging, and are likely to move on to another site. In order to improve dwell time, businesses should focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to their target audience. They should also ensure that their website is easy to navigate and contains clear calls-to-action. By improving their dwell time, businesses can improve their SEO ranking and increase their visibility online.

Go to your Triggers Tab, click on New . Read More

Publish your new Tag/Tigger in Google Tag Manager. Read More

Next, in Google Analytics, you will need to set up Goals. Read More

How to add Scroll Depth Tracking in Google Analytics & GTM

Is your WordPress landing page instantly turning customers away, or is it not answering the questions people are looking for? Scroll depth tracking will let you know.

Scroll depth is a new metric to understand your engagement on a page. It measures how far people scroll down the page and can indicate interest in your content. Tracking this metric can help you identify areas where you could improve the user experience or engagement levels and pages with low bounce rates because they are too short of triggering them. This blog post will take you through what it is, why it’s essential for SEO rankings, and how to track it with Google Analytics data.

What is Bounce Rate?

A Bounce Rate is the percentage of people that land on a page and immediately leave. Exit Rate is the percentage of people that leave a specific page (even if they didn’t initially land on that page).

What is a Good Bounce Rate?

Bounce rates are subjective. If a user finds quantifiable answers and leaves, then a 100% bounce rate is acceptable.

If a user does not find the answers they were looking for and pogo sticks down the search engine result pages, then even a 40% bounce rate would be alarming.

Pogo sticking is when search engine users visit several different search results to find a result that satisfies their search query.

Why Track Scrolling Behavior?

Scroll depth tracking allows you to acquire insight into how an end-user digests your content and user experience trends. Scroll depth tracking can also validate other marketing metrics, such as bounce rates or conversion rates, to give your analysis a different dimension.

What is a good scroll depth?

A best practice is to use your scroll depth benchmarks. Short-form content of 1250 words per page and under; a scroll-depth of 50% would be good, whereas Long-form content of 2000 words or more per page; 75% scroll depth would be acceptable.

What is Scroll Rate?

Scroll-depth represents the percentage of the webpage a visitor has viewed. Scroll Rate is the scroll-depth percentage averaged out across all pageviews. If your Scroll Rate is 25%, on average, most users only view 25% of your screen.

tracking high bounce rates with scroll depth — Tracking High Bounce Rates

How-to: Track Scroll Depth in Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager

Tracking Scroll Depth in Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager helps you distinguish if high bounce rates are good or bad.

This exercise is assuming you’ve already set up and installed Google Tag Manager on your website.

Login to your Google Tag Manager (GTM) account

https://tagmanager.google.com/

This exercise is assuming you’ve already set up and installed Google Tag Manager on your website.

1. Add Scroll Depth Variables in GTM settings

Under the Variables tab, click on Configure (top right corner).

Go down the pop-out until you see Scroll variables, select all Scroll settings to activate. (shown below)

Step-by-step instructions:

Select Variables from the left navigation
Click on Configure in the top right corner
Select all three Scroll Variables
Save

2. Add a Trigger

Go to your Triggers Tab, click on New.

Click on the empty trigger area

trigger area — *Click on the Trigger Configuration*

Select Trigger Type: Scroll Depth

scroll depth — *Scroll Depth Trigger Types*

Add the following information to the trigger:

Check Vertical Scroll Depth
Pick Percentages
Add: 25, 50, 75, 100 (or percentages of your choosing)
Enable this trigger on: Window Load (gtm.load)
This trigger fires on: All Pages (select Some Pages if you want to specify which pages it loads on)
Name your Trigger
Save

3. Add a new Tag

Click on the Tags tab on the left-hand side, then click on New.

Click on the empty Tag Area

empty tag area — *Click on Empty Tag Area*

Select Google Analytics: Universal Analytics

Google analytics tag — *Select Google Analytics tag*

Add the following information to the tag:

Track Type: Event
Category: Scroll Depth
Action: {{Page Path}}
Label: {{Scroll Depth Threshold}}%
Non-Interaction Hit: True
Google Analytics settings: {{GA}} (If not set up, see below)

scroll depth settings — *Tag Configuration*

Add a unique name to your tag and save the information:

Name your Tag
Save the Tag

3a. Add a Google Analytics Variable

Skip this step if you’ve already set up Google Analytics Variables.

Click on New Variable

Add your Google Analytics ID
- If you aren’t sure where to find it, here is how to find your ID.
Save your new variable.

Ensure the Variable is selected in your tag

3b. Select the Scroll Trigger

Add your prebuilt Trigger to the Tag you want it to fire on

add trigger — *Add the Trigger to the Tag*

4. Publish in GTM

Publish your new Tag/Tigger in Google Tag Manager.

If you do not submit your new settings, it will not take effect.

5. Google Analytics

Next, in Google Analytics, you will need to set up Goals.

https://analytics.google.com/

Navigate to the Goal settings:

Under Admin in GA
Select Goals

Create a new Goal (+ NEW GOAL)

Add the following information to the goal settings:

Goal setup: Custom
Goal description
- Name: Scroll Depth
- Type: Event
Goal details:
- Category (Equals to): Scroll Depth
- Label (Equals to): 50%
Save

Now, wait for the analytics to build up data.

FAQ

What is scroll depth?
Scroll depth is a measure of how far down the page a user scrolls. It can be used to track engagement on a page, as well as to understand how far users are willing to scroll to find the content they’re looking for. Scroll depth can be measured in pixels or percentages, and can be tracked using analytics tools like Google Analytics. In general, a higher scroll depth indicates a more engaged user, and can be used to optimize the layout of a page to encourage further exploration.
What does dwell time mean in SEO?
Dwell time is a measure of how long a user spends on a particular page before moving on to another. It is an important metric for SEO (search engine optimization) because it indicates how engaged users are with the content on a given page. If dwell time is high, then it means that users are finding the content relevant and engaging, and are likely to continue using the site. Conversely, if dwell time is low, then it may indicate that users are not finding the content relevant or engaging, and are likely to move on to another site. In order to improve dwell time, businesses should focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to their target audience. They should also ensure that their website is easy to navigate and contains clear calls-to-action. By improving their dwell time, businesses can improve their SEO ranking and increase their visibility online.

Published on: 2020-12-21
Updated on: 2022-07-25

Isaac Adams-Hands

Isaac Adams-Hands is the SEO Director at SEO North, a company that provides Search Engine Optimization services. As an SEO Professional, Isaac has considerable expertise in On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO, which gives him a leg up against the competition.

Scroll Depth: A New Tool to Understand Your Engagement