By Adriaan Brits. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Google is set to launch its “Page Experience Update” in May 2021. The announcement was made in 2020 by the software and tech giant had web developers, digital marketers, and e-commerce businesses scramble to ensure they’ll meet a new set of requirements and metrics issued by the “Page Experience Update.” This isn’t anything new, and Google has almost hundreds of algorithm updates each year – but this time it’s different, as new ranking factors and criteria for SEO traffic and organic content searches will impact millions of websites and businesses.
The Page Experience Update
According to experts at Gr0, The Page Experience Update will implement a set of signals that will accurately measure the user’s experience on the web. The new algorithms will directly look at the user’s experience and interaction with certain webpages, ranking more favorable websites in the search results.
Additionally, Google has included its Core Web Vitals or “Critical Metrics,” the company’s set of metrics measuring the current state of user interaction and overall experience. Generally speaking, Google will use these metrics to look at certain keywords or phrases being searched by users and match that with websites that have similar and/or most relevant information. The new algorithm update will measure the physical performance and interactivity of websites – those that have better, or the best Core Web Vital rankings will be pushed to the top of search results.
The importance of Core Web Vitals
Google’s new algorithm will include a set of three new metrics:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): this will measure the amount of time it will take for the largest sets of content blocks i.e., videos, images, or large sets of wording to fully load on the website. When the largest set of content block has been loaded, then the website is fully loaded.
First Input Delay (FID): depending on where the user may find a link or URL to the website, FID measures how much time it takes for a user to interact with the website. FID is a way for Google to measure how long users wait for websites to load after clicking a certain button on other websites or the search engine.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): experts have mentioned that CLS will be one of the key metrics in the new algorithms. CLS will measure the amount of time it takes a website to completely load all elements on the website, once complete if the website or any of the elements shift when users start interacting with it.
These new metrics will be a way for Google to find an ample number of websites and e-commerce stores that currently have low-ranking and bad working websites. Additionally, this is also an innovative way to ensure user experience for websites can be improved, which in time allows businesses to update websites and improve on elements that have been ignored in the past.
It’s best recommended that developers and marketers research and fully equip themselves with how these new metrics will impact the overall ranking and success of websites.
What does this mean for businesses and eCommerce websites?
It’s no secret that Google already makes use of Core Web Vitals as a way to measure websites and user experience. The new algorithms will become a sort of authoritative way for Google to rank website SEO. Additionally, websites that respond or answer user questions better, depending on the set of keywords being used, and the overall performance of the site will be ranked higher on Google search results.
What can eCommerce businesses do?
Well, if you don’t already have an active SEO implementation strategy – best to start working on it. Ultimately, e-commerce businesses should review their current website and ensure the basics are working properly. Run regular tests and previews on both desktop and mobile interfaces. Ensure that content is structured in a logical flow, and optimize content, keywords, and images. Finally, review the Core Web Vital Report, which will give a clear indication of every metric such as page performance, loading time, and visual stability.
These updates are ultimately a way for Google to limit poor and underperforming websites from ranking higher – and ensure authentic and more organic searches will enhance user experience.
The post Core Web Vitals And Ecommerce: A Ranking Factor That Will Impact Millions appeared first on ValueWalk.
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