Every year, Google gets smarter and smarter. They change their ranking factors, metrics, and algorithms regularly so that SEO Experts don’t rig the system and create an unfair playing ground for websites that are not paying towards tools for higher rankings. Quite a while ago, Google announced a new ranking factor for the year 2021 and caused quite a stir. What was it? Page experience.
According to Google Search Central, “Page experience is a set of signals that measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page beyond its pure information value. It includes Core Web Vitals…”
Core Web Vitals in Google Update
Core Web Vitals are specific factors that Google will use as criteria to determine the page’s overall user experience. They should be kept in mind by all site owners who hope to work in Google’s favour and rank better. Google is all about user experience (which has been a ranking factor for some time now), so it makes sense that it would scrutinise certain factors more closely to determine whether visitors to the site found it useful and stayed for a certain amount of time. Google aims to provide the best possible results.
What Are the Core Web Vitals?
The core web vitals are the focal point for Google in 2021 although, knowing Google, they will change over time. There are specific focal points. These are:
LCP – Largest Contentful Paint
This factor measures the loading time of the site. How long does a large amount of text or a large image take to load on the screen? A slow site can lead to frustration, and Google is a convenience tool that wants to avoid frustration as much as possible.
FID – First Input Delay
This factor measures the interactivity of the site; how long does it take the site to react when a user clicks on something? With our instant gratification expectations, having to click a button on a site more than (maximum) twice will lead to frustration. Every page on a website must be responsive.
CLS, or Cumulative Layout Shift
This factor measures the visual stability of the page/site. This takes into account whether buttons take long to appear while loading if there are random popups that obstruct the user’s ability to click what they want, etc.
The Core Web Vitals are scored in a certain way, and no one factor works alone. Google has complex algorithms in place that site owners need to pay attention to if they want to prevent falling behind entirely. The best way to ensure that your website (and all the factors that you may not even know about) are kept up to date, is to speak to an SEO Expert. For more information on this and other digital marketing efforts, contact our team.