Google's new algorithm is different and it fully rolled out the end of August.
“We’ll begin using page experience as part of our ranking systems beginning in mid-June 2021. However, page experience won’t play its full role as part of those systems until the end of August.”
The long awaited Page Experience update announced last year considers several signals that go into creating an optimal browsing experience for users.
Core Web Vitals:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
This metric measures when the largest image or text block is visible — a fast LCP helps reassure the user that the page is useful.
First Input Delay (FID)
FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with a page (i.e. when they click a link, tap on a button) to the time when the browser is actually able to begin processing that interaction. If you’ve tried to click on something and it didn’t work because the page was still loading — that’s FID.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
“Have you ever been reading an article online when something suddenly changes on the page? Without warning, the text moves, and you've lost your place. Or even worse: you're about to tap a link or a button, but in the instant before your finger lands—BOOM—the link moves, and you end up clicking something else!” That’s CLS.
Other Web Vitals
Mobile usability: A page must have no mobile usability errors.
Security issues: Any security issues for a site disqualify all pages on the site from a Good status.
HTTPS usage: A page must be served over HTTPS to be eligible for Good page experience status.
Ad Experience: A site must not use advertising techniques that are distracting, interrupting, or otherwise not conducive to a good user experience.
What’s the impact?
Google’s Panda update affected 11.8% of all search queries and Google BERT impacted 10% but nobody knows what to expect with this update.
Google, however, made it clear that great content still ranks supreme.
“While all of the components of page experience are important, we will rank pages with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar. A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content. However, in cases where there are multiple pages that have similar content, page experience becomes much more important for visibility in Search”
My Take
Simplify your web design and invest in your content: photography, videos, writing, and consistent branding.
I’ve been building websites since 1995 and the primary driver has been to design a jaw-dropping website and then back-fill the content.
Google is making it clear with this update that how a user will view a site as good is different than how most agencies and web development firms view good sites.
