If you’ve kept abreast of Google and all of the changes to its algorithm, there’s a good chance that you’re aware of the update with the Google Page Experience. For those looking forward to it, there’s some good news – the update has arrived! However, if you haven’t been optimizing for its metrics, then you’re missing the opportunity to earn yourself a ranking boost. More importantly, your competitors are likely enjoying their elevated positions in the search results, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to keep up.
But don’t worry; we’re here to help you out. In this article, we’ll talk about the page experience, how it affects your ranking, and all the areas you need to prepare for as it rolls out. With that said, continue reading if you want to learn more about it.
What Is The Google Page Experience?
As its name suggests, Google Page Experience is essentially a set of different signals that determine and measure the way people will experience interacting with Web pages that are beyond information value. So it doesn’t just include the current search signals, like the online domain’s mobile-friendliness and HTTPS. But also Web vitals that encompass metrics for quantifying the user experience for overall performance, visual stability, and interactivity.
When all mentioned changes begin rolling out, the Google page experience will become a part of all the search engine’s signals whenever it generates search results. But keep in mind that even with its importance, the web pages will still be ranked with quality information as a priority. Excellent experience won’t necessarily override great content, after all. However, page experience might take greater importance in situations wherein too many websites are similar in their relevance.
1. Ensure That Your Online Domain’s Loading Speed Remains Acceptable
One of Google’s most essential web vitals is the LCP or the Largest Contentful Paint. This metric refers to the amount of time that usually takes for a page to load the most significant content for the user to see or interact with. There are various ways to ensure optimization for this specific metric. The servers need to be assessed for starters because a slow server can result in a sluggish response time. In addition, the process may necessitate performance guidance, so it turns static pages instead of building it up upon every request.
Other elements could potentially slow the LCP down, including multimedia items like audio files, videos, and images. You can compress the photos and images, keep specific assets cached, and have some of the things preloaded to remedy the problem. You’ll also want to check on the site’s coding, as lightening up the code could significantly boost the website’s performance.
2. Elevate The Interactivity Of Your Website
The next thing that you’ll need to work on is the FID, which is also known as the First Input Delay. This measures the amount of time that users may take before they begin the process of interaction with elements of a page, be it buttons, links, or multimedia items. In the eyes of the Google search engine, domain owners must aim for an FID of no more than a hundred milliseconds. It may sound simple, but what exactly does this entail?
Many users will undoubtedly be intimately familiar with all the pages that tend to load much slower than they should when going to a new site, editing selections on a cart, etc. This happens because the preferred browser often has too many things going on with it, like performing tasks associated with sizable JavaScript files. But now, we’re looking to concentrate solely on the first interaction that users experience with a web page.
Similar to meeting new people, first impressions will matter. For example, if visitors to your website are aware from the outset that the online domain of your business is slow, they’ll likely leave and turn to other websites for what they need. But by giving a good impression, in this case, a fast-loading page, you’ll be able to elevate your engagement with users more than you otherwise would have. It is for this reason that the FID metric is so critical.
However, this area will usually involve serious web development tasks. If you don’t have the expertise or knowledge to handle the work, it’s best to find an expert who can. It may sound like additional expenditure, but it will pay dividends in the long run.
3. Address The Layout Shift
Last but certainly not the least is the CLS or Cumulative Layout Shift. This is a measurement of how much the content layout of the Web page moves whenever it loads. You’ve likely experienced waiting for the desired page to fully load, try to click on a particular element, and fail because it was pushed to a different area. This type of situation can lead to a bad experience for the user, and why this metric matters.
The question is, how do you overcome this obstacle and benefit from the significant boost in ranking that CLS can offer. And the answer is to achieve a score of no more than 0.1, the maximum result that the Google search engine will expect to see. The content of the website will likely be shifting a lot. For those using a site in WordPress, you may notice the following factors may be causing CLS problems:
- Dimensionless videos, images, ads, and embedded items.
- Brief flashes of unstyled text.
- Dynamic content like animations.
More often than not, addressing CLS concerns usually applies to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets not only because they are prioritized by Google more. But because they tend to have smaller viewports and far weaker processors. However, the process of eliminating an undesirable layout will remain the same and ultimately depend on the source of the issue.
- Since browsers won’t be able to tell how to properly space the elements of a web page without the necessary dimensions, there’s a chance that the items will reposition themselves as they load. Fortunately, you can get around this problem with the addition of the right dimensions.
- For unstyled text, preloading the fonts should resolve the issue. Ensuring that the browser considers the font as a priority will ensure that no jarring changes in the font will happen or cause any more shifts in layout.
4. Address All Other Areas
Optimizing an online domain for the updated on-page experience doesn’t just revolve around the above-mentioned metrics but rather in addressing every area as a whole. When all’s said and done, Google doesn’t merely judge websites by their loading speed, user interaction, or layout. When ranking it on the SERPs or search engine results pages, it considers all aspects of its performance, from mobile optimization to security.
Start Optimizing Now To Benefit From The Page Experience
There may be many things you’ll need to manage when it comes to the page experience, but it’s neither as complicated nor as tricky as it sounds. It all boils down to user experience. As long as you’re able to keep your visitors engaged with the website, content, ease of access, and other elements of your online domain, you’ll be able to benefit from the advantages of the page experience when it’s rolled out.
