GOOGLE’S 2021 PAGE EXPERIENCE UPDATE
Billions of queries are received in 150 languages by Google every day from countries around the globe. To stay competitive and serve its user base, improvement for Google is a must. It follows that if we want the audience to find a business online, paying attention to Google is essential. The rollout of Google’s plan to include page experience as a factor to rank sites took place partially in mid-June 2021, with the second phase scheduled for completion by August 2021.
WHAT CHANGES CAN WE EXPECT?
LCP ( LARGEST CONTENTFUL PAINT)
LCP measures the loading experience or, in other words, the time it takes for the most critical and relevant content on the web page to load. A load time of 2.5 seconds is considered ideal. Too many third-party scripts, large images, insufficient web hosting services can harm LCP ratings.
INTERACTIVITY
The Google page ranking algorithm will have the new aspect of interactivity measured by First Input Delay (FID). FID matters for pages in which information is collected via sign-ups or pages requiring users to log in. Heavy JavaScript generally causes high FIDs.
VISUAL STABILITY
Visual stability is the third new factor in the page experience update. It is measured with Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). CLS measures the stability of a website as each page loads. A score below 0.1 is considered optimal. Specified dimensions for images, ads and embedded elements on a page can help in reducing a high CLS.
WHY IS THIS ALGORITHM UPDATE IMPORTANT?
These changes in page experience metrics should be taken seriously by developers. All those involved in optimization strategies to improve search rankings should take note of these updates. If a website’s user experience ranks in the top bracket, visual cues will guide consumers and browsers to that page over the others. It follows that those pages that fall below the new benchmarks will be left behind in rankings, which translates into a significant drop in traffic. Understanding these signals and making necessary changes should be a top priority for site owners.
Data Direct can work out granular details for enhancing page experience like optimizing for mobile search, improving page speeds, focussing on content, etc. We can make your ranking zoom to the top.
