Google’s Page Experience Update Promotes Quality Websites

Google is all about delivering a better web experience to people conducting searches on Chrome, the #1 search engine with a 70% market share.
This is nothing new. Google has focused on elevating the search and web experience for quite a few years.

With customers flocking to the web to make buying decisions or searching for qualified vendors during Covid-19, Google recognizes that some websites deliver a better page experience for customers than others.

The new Page Experience update is designed to encourage website owners to upgrade their websites and provide a better experience and usability to their customers. Frankly, this upgrade could help boost sales for these same companies.

Page Experience is about ranking websites at the top of searches when they provide a better user experience and are “loved” by customers. This is a way for Google to sort out the poorly built websites while elevating quality websites built around a better user experience especially from mobile devices.

According to Google, Page Experience is defined as follows: 

The page experience signal measures aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. Optimizing 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. We believe this will contribute to business success on the web as users grow more engaged and can transact with less friction.

How does Page Experience work?

As of two 2019, over 60% of searches are conducted on mobile devices and this number has likely escalated during Covid. Google recognizes the trend toward mobile searches and is focused on providing users a better search experience. 

There are seven search signals for a good page experience. The top three Core Web Vitals are real world, user-centric metrics.

• Page Speed – Website page speed has gained importance over the past couple of years. We’ve all experienced web pages that take a long time to display photos, videos, and written copy. Websites that load up quickly will likely rank higher than older websites that take a long time to load content for viewing. This is especially true for web pages displayed on mobile devices where more than half of website visits are abandoned if a mobile page takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

Fortunately, Google provides several tools for website owners and developers to gauge their website’s speed and provides recommendations changes to improve speed. Check out: How to Think About Speed Tools. The longer it takes for a web page to load, the probability of a website visitor bouncing off a website increases by 123%. Ouch!

• Interactivity – This change relates to how users interact with your website. Google will measure how long it takes from the time a user interacts with page (tap or click) to the time the browser begins processing that interaction. Calls to Action, for instance, are an example of interactive step that triggers the interactivity gauge. Buttons are easier for mobile users to trigger than underlined text, so keep this in mind when designing a website for mobile users.

• Stability of Content as it Loads – In mobile view, for instance, as the page is loading all the graphics aren’t showing up consistently so a button could accidentally be tapped as page elements load. Again, good design and website structure is a key factor when designing for mobile devices. 

Other Ranking Factors for Page Experience

Other areas of your website that contribute to the overall page experience have been around for some time. 

• Safe Browsing – This system has helped detect harmful content, deceptive sites, malware, harmful downloads, etc. Believe it or not, Google maintains a list of unsafe websites URLs, such as phishing and deceptive sites.

We’ve all experienced dubious websites with a variety of negative outcomes to the functionality of our computers so no explanation is needed on why this is an important update.

• HTTPS – Security for your website. Some websites are still not including an extra layer of security by adding an SSL certificate. SSL certificates was included in Google’s search algorithms several years ago, so this is nothing new.

Adding and SSL certificate to your website is fairly easy and not expensive plus it signals to customers that your website is safe to visit. Not having an SSL certificate could cause customers to make buying decisions elsewhere. 

• Mobile Top Stories Feature – “Over 60% of people trust Google News over other news outlets.”, states Lee Wilson on Search Engine Journal. Generating quality news is one way for a business to build their brand and credibility online, plus improve their search metrics.

According to Google, “Top stories” is a section that appears within Google Search when we detect a search query is news oriented. We match the search with relevant, quality news content to display. "Top stories" features articles related to the search, and a link to more related articles on the News tab. Content is automatically selected for this feature.”

So how does a company get it’s news featured? Google is looking for quality, original content that is consistently produced for the web. While this often relates to publishers like Forbes, Inc., etc. it’s possible for much smaller organizations to meet the criteria. If you’re company is considering utilizing the “Top Stories” feature, check out Google’s News Content Policy for criteria.

Computer users, of course, have control over how news is selected and displayed on their computers based on their personalization settings. 

• Intrusive Interstitials – Pop-ups that tend to take over a page deliver a poor user experience for both desktop and mobile users. Popup ads are often called take overs because they “take over” the page completely. Most people simply find these ads annoying.

There are times, however, when pop-ups are appropriate, such as Covid or age restriction notifications. Learn more about Intrusive Interstitials.

Quality Content on a Well-Structured Website is a Winner.

Quality content with Calls to Action that are easy for mobile user to access (think button) will always be a top priority with website content and SEO. Craft written content that appeals to your customers. Make sure all images complement the written content and use alt tags for search engines.

Quality websites will win over poorly designed and structured websites. Take the time to audit your website using the Google provided tools mentioned above then make needed adjustments to your website. These steps will ensure your website stays at the top of searches and provides your visitors with a great page experience.

Free Website Audit

If your website is not showing up strong in searches or is out of date, reach out to us for a no-obligation review of your website. We’ll make recommendations for areas of improvement and how your website can help grow your business. We can be reached at design@gcmd.agency or by phone at 207-464-0016.