Google’s ‘Page Experience Update’ is nearly here. What does that mean for your business?

Google reports that they tinker with their ranking algorithm all the time, but the Page Experience Update, due to be released in June will be the most significant change in ranking factors for a while.

If your website is comfortably ranking right now, you might want to be aware of this new update, and it it might have an impact on your rankings ongoing.

What is Google’s ‘Page Experience Update’

Google strives to select the best results for its clients, you the searcher. More recently Google has been evolving a strategy to present websites in search results that not only have the best answer for the search requested, but also the sites that have a good ‘Page Experience’ for the searcher.

Much of these initiatives relate to people using mobile devices to search. Google recognises that mobile searches are fast becoming the preferred device for online research which of course is a string space for the Google search engine.

It’s not difficult to understand Google’s thinking behind ‘Page Experience’. Consider how you’d prefer to view a Google search result to appear:

– Appear fast on your screen

–  Displayed clearly

–  etc etc

Whats inside the ‘Page Experience’ Update?

Let’s break down some of the individual elements that make up the Page Experience Update.

Firstly there’s the ‘Core Web Vitals‘ metrics :

‘Largest Contentful Paint’ (LCP) 

This new performance metric is about how quickly your website is ‘perceived’ to load. LCP is the time the largest image or text block on the page takes to appear onscreen, relative to when the page first started to load. 

Read more about The Page Experience Update ‘Core Web Vital LCP 

Image source: https://web.dev

First Input Delay (FID)

FID is the time from when the user interacts with a page (eg clicks a link or menu item) to when site responds.

Image source: https://web.dev

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

‘Layout Shift’ occurs when a website page moves around or ‘shifts’ during load or in response to the visitor interacting with the page. The Cumulative layout Shift is a measurement 

Image source: https://web.dev

Safe Browsing

If your website is hacked, don’t expect to be ranked in Google. In fact, Google will display a warning if you search then try to visit a hacked site.

Get hacked and don’t get visitors. No visitors = No leads. Being hacked will cost you business. That’s why we are so passionate about updating and firewalling the websites we manage.

Image source: https://www.one2create.co.uk/

Mobile Friendly

Not new at all to SEO, mobile-friendliness or ‘Mobile Compatibility’ has been important for SEO results for years (April 2015). In fact, so many people are using mobile devices to access websites now that improving your site’s ability to be used from a mobile phone will likely increase visitor engagement &/or leads generated from mobiles.

Test your site’s Mobile Friendliness here: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

HTTPS

Google has favoured secure websites since 2015, so its appearance in the Page Experience Update is no surprise.

The HTTPS acronym indicates that the communications between your website and its web server is encrypted and so theoretically cant be monitored and intercepted by a ‘man in the middle’.  

Image source: malwarebytes.com

Interstistitials

These are those popups that jump onto your screen and obscure the content underneath. Its notable that some interstitials are OK says Google but not if they are intrusive

Google says interstitials are OK if they:

• appear to be in response to a legal obligation, such as for cookie usage or for age verification.
• Are login dialogs on sites where content is not publicly indexable. 
• Banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space and are easily dismissible.

Example of an acceptable interstitial
source: developers.google.com