Google’s At In Again! New Page Experience Ranking Algorithm Set to Launch

ANOTHER Google Update?! Yes. And this one ranks high in your need-to-know repertoire.

We know this happens a lot, but trust us, this is for your own good! Google has announced that a new update will be launching soon, and anyone and everyone who has a digital presence (that’s you!) really needs to sit up and take notice!

In essence, the up-coming update, expected to take place literally any day now, deals strictly with user experience and how that affects your site’s ranking within the Google search ranking page. Paying attention now and making the needed changes to get it right can make a big difference in your website’s usability and performance which is not only great in it’s own right, it can have a profound impact on your SEO and SEM.

Here’s what you need to know: Updates are taking place to the already-in-place Page Experience ranking algorithm at Google. This means that Google is prioritizing user experience even more than before, an important note since many -and rightly so, believed that the key to high ranking on a Google results page was established via content creation. Don’t get us wrong, great content is still extremely important (visitors to your website want a great experience in addition to reading great content!), but if you’re looking to take your website one step closer to perfection, paying attention to the new Google Page Experience guide and putting a few new practices in place can really up your digital marketing game!

Here’s what you need to do: With the new update in place, search engine optimization will focus on four factors. Keep in mind these -or at least most of them in one way or another, are already in place and have been for some time, but are just now being given higher priority than before. These are the elements you need to optimize in order to meet and exceed the new Page Experience requirements that Google is rolling out:

• Loading: A collection of performance metrics that focus on user experience. These include Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) which measures how long the largest (i.e. the presumable most important) element on the page takes to become visible, and First Input Delay (FID), which tracks how long the browser takes to respond to a user’s first interaction in it.
• User Annoyance: This metric includes the new metric of Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures how often a web page layout shifts without user interaction. Not new, but just as important is the interstitials measurements, or the number of intrusive pop-ups that a user experiences while on your website (take note that useful pop-ups like essential changes to your business due to Covid-19 regulations do not affect your page experience ranking)
• Security and Privacy: Ensuring that your website doesn’t have any deceptive content, malware, or intrusive pop-ups; as well as verifying your website has an SSL certificate and uses HTTPS.
• Accessibility: Mostly made up of the requirement for mobile friendliness, or the on-going requirement that your website be optimized to be seen and interacted with without issue on a smaller screen, like a mobile phone or a tablet.

Here’s how you do it: Frustratingly, while Google has been very open about these changes that will take place on both mobile and desktops search engine algorithms, they have not said how each of the four factors within it, listed above, will be weighted. What this means for you is that you need to give equal importance to all of them when evaluating, planning, and updating your SEO and digital marketing strategy for this year and beyond. Luckily, Google is quite good at giving web developers and website designers detailed guides on how to implement changes to meet any core updates, and this one is no different. You can find it here, but keep in mind that it’s been written for developers, so it’s best to get your digital marketing team, including your web developers on board so they can implement any changes to your SEO strategy in conjunction with updates to your website as needed.

Peppermint’s Here to Help!

Can’t keep track of all the updates Google is constantly rolling out and how they will affect your current and future plans to have and maintain the best (read: highest ranking, best performing, and most profitable) website possible? The digital marketing team at Peppermint is always on high alert for changes taking place and can help you implement them effectively and before they become a necessity, keeping you one step ahead of the competition! We can audit your current website to determine where you stand, recommend updates that will measurably improve your site vitals, and continuously monitor and implement micro-optimizations that will keep your website at peak performance and your online presence at the forefront of your online audience’s minds. Learn more about our full-service digital marketing agency near Marbella on our website and feel free to get in touch with any questions you have on how your business can benefit from Google’s newest update.