Get your website ready! User experience is very important to Google. This has become more evident in new Google ranking factors these past few years.
In May 2020, Google announced that a new ranking algorithm update called Google Page Experience will be an important factor for ranking.
Basically, if Google thinks your website users are having a poor experience on your web pages, those pages may not rank as high as they do now.
What is User Experience?
User experience is all about being more user-centered than page-centered. The focus puts the user front and center. It asks the big question:
- How does a user feel when they’re interacting with your site?
By putting the user first, your visitors will take notice and they will enjoy interacting with your website more.
What are Google Page Experience Signals?
This list came directly from a detailed developer document showing what Google considers as a good page experience.
Core Web Vitals
This new set of performance metrics is focused on User Experience (UX). These metrics include:
- Page Loading
- Interactivity
- Visual Stability
All of these metrics can be tracked on your Google Search Console.
Mobile Friendly Website
Is your page mobile friendly?
Google started indexing sites for mobile first because they found more people are using their phones to search and browse.
Your website needs to provide a great user experience for those on mobile.
Safe Browsing
Websites should not contain malicious content; basically, you should not have malware on your page that harms a user’s computer or a mobile device.
There should be no deceptive content that asks users to share a password or download software.
Secure – HTTPS
Websites need to be loaded over secure servers to ensure a safe browsing experience for your user.
No Intrusive Interstitials, or Popups
What is an intrusive interstitial? A popup ad. If it’s intrusive, it will block most or all of a web page. This leads to a bad user experience.
If an interstitial is not responsive, it will be almost impossible for a mobile user to close it, making the page completely useless to someone on mobile.
Web Content Still Matters
Page experience is one 200 factors that Google uses to rank sites in search.
Yes, User Experience will be a focal point for 2021 and you need to be ready for it.
However, Google will still rank pages that have the best information. Fresh content is still important for your SEO!
