What Does Google's Page Experience Update Mean for Website Owners?
07-Jul-2021 | Digital Trends
Announced last month on Twitter, Google stated that “the page experience update is slowly rolling out”. The implementation is slow-paced but it is projected to be complete by the end of August 2021. From June 17 onwards, Google will start using the page experience signals for eligibility into the top stories carousel and section. This will mark a strategic change in SEO and ranking patterns upon completion.
To dive deeper, this is a new ranking algorithm that will judge web pages on the basis of how users interact with them. If Google thinks that your visitors will have a poor experience, your pages may not rank as highly as before. However, content is king so pages with the best information will still have priority. But page experience is only one of the signals that Google uses – and luckily, SEO specialists still have time to prepare.
Here’s all you need to know on the subject and how to prepare for it beforehand.
What is Page Experience?
To keep it simple, this is a metric (or a ranking factor) that indicates how users interact with a web page that goes beyond its information value. The better the online experience, the better it performs in ranking for strategic SEO needs (with other signals in mind). Google aims to prioritize pages that offer the best experiences to users. However, this also includes another set of metrics that must be analyzed individually:
- Mobile-friendliness
- Page speed insights
- Safe browsing
- Loading ability
- HTTPS encryption security
- Visual layout stability
- Responsiveness
- No intrusive interstitials
These are called Core Web Vitals which are used to measure real-world user experience.
Why Does Page Experience Matter?
In response to a query, those pages will be prioritized which give the best information in totality. Nothing comes close to pages with valuable and relevant content. But to differentiate between those with similar quality and content, page experience will have the final say when it comes to performance. Hence, it will play the role of a ‘tiebreaker’ in situations.
SEO experts know that there are over 200 Google ranking factors that are known to be linked to better Google rankings. Besides backlinks and keyword placement, page experience has emerged as a way for Google to determine how helpful a web page is to a user. The primary goal behind Google is to help direct people to the best information available and this new update could prove to a game-changer.
Google states that the update is designed to highlight pages that offer great user experiences.
Drastic changes are not to be expected, however, in light of the same. This is because it is just “one of the many factors our systems take into account.” But making improvements with time in hand should be considered a priority. Since the update has been announced, all publishers will seek to raise the bar and deliver on experience – which is where a good SEO service agency comes into the picture.
And of course, SEO rankings may be influenced by this Google algorithm update with time. This is due to one simple reason alone – Google will now show the sites that users love and value the most.
How to Enhance Your Page Experience
This new update will have a strong impact on every website. To stay ahead of the curve, it is highly recommended to consult SEO specialists or even sign up for Google Search Console. Here, you will get a report while gives you information on whether or not your web pages have a good page experience. But to help every publisher and site owner improve their page experience, here are a few tips that are sure to help down the line:
- Work on your loading speed
- Evaluate landing page and visual stability
- Optimize web pages for mobile devices
- Create timely, relevant and useful SEO optimized content
- Ensure complete browsing safety, etc.
Also, pay heed to the Core Web Vitals mentioned above – they are equally important.
As previously stated, page experience is made up of several existing Google search ranking factors which revolve around speed and usability. Inherently linked to any well-crafted SEO strategy, these metrics will play a direct role in where your site will rank on SERPs. With these in mind, strategies must adapt and evolve accordingly and we’re only a call away for tailor-made assistance.
Stories need to be woven into great tales
and that is where we come in. We are small enough to enjoy the smaller accomplishments, yet agile enough to take on projects of all sizes.
Explore our body of work