Google has been recommending website designers to create good user experiences for quite a while now. Our web agency even has a special UX and SEO FAQ section on its corporate website because we know these two things go hand in hand.
Now the “relationship” between UX for SEO is getting official — Google has announced a new Page Experience algorithm. You need to know about it if you want to improve your SEO ranking — or even keep your existing achievements.
The WishDesk team would like to see all our customers’ websites at the top of Google's results, so we are here to bring the latest Page Experience news to you.
New Google’s Page Experience algorithm: what’s up
Based on the new Page Experience algorithm, web pages will be ranked based on how users perceive the experience of interacting with them. “Evaluating page experience for a better web”, says the official title — it makes Google’s main message clear.
According to Google, they want to make the web more delightful for users across multiple browsers and surfaces. Striving towards better UX should contribute to the business success of website owners thanks to better user engagement and seamless transactions.
Google Page Experience Update will be added to other important ranking factors announced in recent years, such as web page loading speed and mobile-friendliness. Another important news is about AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). We will disclose more details of the Page Experience update soon in this post.
When is Google’s Page Experience going live?
Don’t worry, the new ranking factors are not coming into force out-of-the-blue, today or tomorrow. Google has decided to give everyone some time to prepare. The changes are to arrive next year — in 2021.
This approach is partly associated with the global pandemic — the Google team understands that website owners are responding to the effects of Covid-19. Moreover, they promise to issue an announcement 6 months before rolling the changes out officially.
The details of the Google’s Page Experience algorithm
The Page Experience update builds on a new set of real-world user-centered metrics recently announced by Chrome — so-called Core Web Vitals. In addition, it includes a few existing key search signals. According to Google, when the Page Experience factor comes into force, it will be joined with hundreds of search signals. Let’s now see what’s inside the Page Experience:
Key Search signals as part of Google's new algorithm
- Mobile-friendliness. Everyone who wants to improve their SEO ranking needs to have their pages optimized for mobile devices. You can check if yours is with the help of the Mobile-Friendly Test.
- Safe browsing. Your pages should be safe for users — they should contain no malware, deceptive elements, unwanted software, etc. Check your website’s safety status with the Security Issues report.
- The use of HTTPS. Your website should definitely be using the secure protocol of data exchange if you want to improve your SEO ranking, so it’s high time to switch to HTTPS.
- No intrusive interstitial guidelines. Google will decrease the ranking of websites with “intrusive interstitials” that prevent users from easy access to web pages from mobile devices (like popups covering the content and similar elements).
Core Web Vitals as part of Google's new algorithm
The Core Web Vitals metrics inside the Page Experience algorithm are associated with such aspects site speed, responsiveness, and visual stability. Learn more about them to improve your SEO ranking:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) evaluates loading time. i.e. how much it takes for the largest page element to load. This index should be kept to within 2.5 seconds.
- First Input Delay (FID) evaluates interactivity, i.e. how much time it takes your website to respond to the interaction a user has made. This index should be kept within 100 milliseconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) evaluates visual stability, i.e. how often users experience an unexpected shift in website layout. This index should be kept within 0.1.
Content is still king
Despite the latest algorithm, pages with high-quality content will always be important. The new algorithm does not override Google’s preferences for good content to improve SEO ranking. However, if Google finds many pages similar in content relevance, UX may become the decisive ranking factor.
AMP no longer required for Top Stories
When the Page Experience rolls out, Google will remove the requirement to use AMP for the content that wants to be in its Top Stories.
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is a framework used to provide better performance and visibility of mobile content. Google has been favoring the AMP technology and requiring it to be used in order for content to be eligible for Top Stories. Google’s mobile Top Stories are a powerful traffic driver known by many publishers.
The change looks like a nice benefit for publishers who might reevaluate the need to implement AMP.
Improve your website’s UX now — and you will improve SEO ranking!
That said, in order to improve SEO ranking, you will definitely need to provide better user experiences. But UX is worth optimizing not only because Google said so. Seamless user experiences are a way to better customer satisfaction, more users, and a higher conversion rate. Yes, this one thing gives you so many benefits.
So let’s think that Google has just given website owners a push with something they should have done a long time ago!
Here at WishDesk, you can order the services of a UX consultant who will audit your site, discover its weak points that need to be optimized, and recommend the best ways to improve your UX. Our team will professionally bring all the recommendations to life on your site. Drop us a line!
