Google Rolls Out Launching Updates To Reward Great User Experience
Are you prepared for the User Experience (UX) update that has been rolling out since mid-June? Google has announced that users page experience will now contribute to Google search rankings. However, page experience will not play its full role until the end of August 2021.
Google will begin using page experience as part of their ranking systems and plan to incorporate more page experience signals, updating them on a yearly basis moving forward.
Grofuse Digital Director, Denis Finnegan, said: “To ensure people get the most helpful and enjoyable experiences from the web, signals will now measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page and contribute to organic ranking. Site owners should revise Search Console’s ‘Core Web Vitals’ which measure speed, responsiveness and visual stability of a page.”
The Core Web Vitals
What Does This Mean For Website Owners?
Google will improve organic ranking for great user experience. If you invest in a high-spec design and optimise user experience (UX) for your customers, this update will work in your favour.
According to Google, “the page experience signal measures aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. Optimising for these factors makes the web more delightful for users across all web browsers and surfaces, and helps sites evolve towards user expectations on mobile.”
Mobile-friendliness, safe browsing, HTTPS-security and intrusive interstitial guidelines should be all be reviewed to identify opportunities for improvement.
Additional changes include the Top Stories carousel feature on Google Search will be updated to include all news content, as long as it meets the Google News policies.
Google are expanding the usage of non-AMP content to power the core experience on news.google.com and in the Google News mobile apps.
Additionally, Google will no longer show the AMP badge icon to indicate AMP content
Grofuse Case Study
Grofuse has worked closely with many clients to transform their websites and advance their online presence. A prime example of this, and one that will reap the rewards of this Google updates is Automatic Fire.
“Automatic Fire is Ireland’s leading fire safety and integrated solutions company based in Dublin, Ireland. The team at Grofuse designed, developed and delivered a digital acceleration solution for Automatic Fire. Ensuring all objectives would be met and improve organic website traffic for a higher ranking.
“The new website is visually captivating, sharper, faster and fully optimised for user and page experience. The improved online presence is attractive to the target audience across all devices. The combination of functionality and visual appeal ensures an exceptional user experience.” Mr Finnegan added.
What To Do If Your Site Isn’t Up To Date
The first step is conducting a site-wide audit of your pages to deep-dive into issues and note where there is room for improvement.
Google has introduced a new tool to quickly evaluate performance and identify opportunities for improvement, this is called the Page Experience report. This report combines the existing Core Web Vitals report with other components of the page experience signals, such as HTTPS security, absence of intrusive interstitials, mobile-friendliness and safe browsing data. Alternatively, request a free consultation from the team at Grofuse.
Once you have identified opportunities, appropriate actions can then be taken to evaluate the page performance. Invest in A/B Testing, run website tests and ask for customer feedback.
Google’s mission is to help users find the most relevant and quality sites on the web. The goal with these updates is to highlight the best experiences and ensure that users can find the information they’re looking for.
If you have invested in your customer’s online experience, your website will be optimised and rewarded. However, if you have not reviewed your customer’s experience, such as comments, reviews, layout and page speed – the time to fix this is now or expect to be left behind as digital standards increase.
If you are interested in a professional website audit, or to speak with one of our Grofuse Google specialists, contact our team today. NI/GB +44 2871 228820 ROI: +353 1 247 5294.