Page Experience: A New Ranking Factor In Google’s Upcoming Algorithm Update!

If Content is the king then the User Experience is on its way to becoming the Queen with Google’s new site ranking algorithm update.

While the quality of your content still remains top in getting good rankings, the page performance and users’ experience have now also come into play. With the new set of metrics, Google is now all set to look at your site from all angles.

This year on 28th May Google has announced a new ranking algorithm designed to judge web pages based on how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. That means if Google thinks your website users will have a poor experience on your pages — measured by a new set of metrics called Core Web Values — Google may not rank those pages as highly as they are now. 

This update is called the Google Page Experience update and is expected to go live sometime in 2021, so you have plenty of time to prepare.

In this article I’ll discuss some key points like:

And at the end I have given the links of some resources that can help you monitor, optimize your page experience and to learn new skills that can help you to prepare for these technical updates.

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According to Google, What is Page Experience?

Page experience is a set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page beyond its pure information value. It includes Core Web Vitals, which is a set of metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability of the page. It also includes existing Search signals: mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS, and intrusive interstitial guidelines.

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How page experience will affect ranking? 

While page experience is important, Google still seeks to rank pages with the best information overall, even if the page experience is subpar. Great page experience doesn’t override having great page content. However, in cases where there are many pages that may be similar in relevance, page experience can be much more important for visibility in Search.

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What are core web vitals?

Core Web Vitals are a set of real-world, user-centered metrics that quantify key aspects of the user experience. 

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures loading performance. To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have LCP occur within the first 2.5 seconds of the page starting to load.
  • First Input Delay (FID): Measures interactivity. To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have an FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measures visual stability. To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have a CLS score of less than 0.1
Img source: blog.chromium.org

They measure dimensions of web usability such as load time, interactivity, and the stability of content as it loads. Read more in detail on google’s official blog page!

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Combining new metrics with existing ranking factors:

Google is going to use these new metrics — combined with existing experience ranking factors, to help with ranking a pages.Google’s existing Search signals for page experience are:

  • Mobile-Friendly. The page is mobile-friendly. Check if your page is mobile-friendly with the Mobile-Friendly Test.
  • Safe browsing. The page doesn’t contain malicious (for example, malware) or deceptive (for example, social engineering) content. Check to see if your site has any safe-browsing issues with the Security Issues report.
  • HTTPS. The page is served over HTTPS. Check if your site’s connection is secure. If the page isn’t served over HTTPS, learn how to secure your site with HTTPS.
  • No intrusive interstitials. The content on the page is easily accessible to the user. Learn how interstitials can make content less accessible.

These are now joined by real-world, user-centred metrics, like the LCP, FID and CLS mentioned earlier. Combined, these factors take into account everything a user experiences on a website to try to come up with a holistic picture of the performance of your site, as Google likes to say.

Img source: developers.google.com

Combining the Core Web Vitals with existing ranking factors we get the name “Page Experience Factors”

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When will this go into effect? 

As per Google this guide explains ranking changes that aren’t live yet. They’re providing the tools and documentation now to get you started, but there is no immediate need to take actions now. Google will provide a 6 month notice before implementing these changes.

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Start Learning, Start Testing, start Improving!

With these new tech trends rolling every year, It becomes important for Business owners, Working professionals to learn new skills to improve their site and to stay updated in the completive market. Below I have listed down some helpful online courses which can help you to underrated and work towards this new Google’s update!

User engagement will improve as experiences on the web get better and that by incorporating these new signals into Search, Google wants to make the web better for everyone. By launching supporting tools ahead of time will help the diverse ecosystem of web creators, developers, and businesses to improve and deliver more delightful user experiences. 

Here are some resources that can help you monitor, optimize your page experience:

Remember, the update won’t roll out until sometime in 2021, but the tools are there, so you can start testing and improving.

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Resources: 1, 2

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