What Is Page Experience A Core (Google Ranking Factor For 2021)

Recently, Google has announced plans for updates to be rolled out in 2021. The new Google ranking factor update is about a ranking algorithm designed to judge web pages based on how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. The new search engine algorithm is also known as the Page Experience ranking factor. It is expected that this update will go live sometime in 2021, so prepare and get ready for the update.

What is Page Experience?

Page experience is an SEO term used to measure the usability of a website, from a public perspective. It gives importance to the user experience and how to optimize it. Top search engines like Google, bing, and more are constantly updating algorithms for ranking websites based on credibility, authenticity, and usability. The Google ranking factor is composed of several metrics including Core Web Values, mobile-friendliness, web safety, interstitials, and more.  

What will the new page experience entail?

This new Google ranking factor is composed of several aspects to evaluate a user’s experience when they interact with a web page. The ranking factor that comes to you in 2021 will feature the following elements. 

• Load speed 
• Responsiveness
• Visual layout stability 
• Safe and clean website code
• Use of HTTPS Encryption
• No intrusive interstitials 
• Page speed insights

Although page experience is not a new ranking factor. It is a mix of previous ranking signals combined into a new one.

What are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are used for evaluating website performance. It includes user-centered metrics that give scores on aspects of your pages such as stability of the content, interactivity, and load time. It is originated from its lighthouse audit framework. This framework is used by SEOs and webmasters to perform detailed performance audits of any website or URL.

This new Ranking factor  will evaluate user experience based on the following criteria:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): It is used to measure the loading performance. To be precise, it measures the time it takes for the main content of a page to load. To deliver a great user experience, LCP should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.

• First Input Delay (FID): It is used to measure the amount of time that passes between the initial user interaction with the browser. As per Google, an FID of up to 100 milliseconds is perfect, anything between 100 to 300 milliseconds needs improvement, and FID above 300 milliseconds is worst.

• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): It is used to measure the visual stability of a page when interacting. To offer a good user experience, pages should keep a CLS of less than 0.1 and anything higher than 0.25 is worst. 

What Exactly It Look Likes

When you align all these mentioned elements together, you will finally get a name called page experience. Google said page experience is not a ranking score, but rather, each element within has its weights and ranking. Google continues to update its search algorithm to stay up to the trend.

Tracking Algorithm Updates

Changes in the major signals, like the page experience update, directly affect your website’s SEO performance. So, it is important to track algorithm updates to respond and adapt appropriately. We suggest you use the Google Search Console tool for checking signals of your site’s SEO performance. Here are some resources to check for the newest algorithm changes

• SEO Blogs: Check SEO logs on a specific interval of time to keep you looped in on metrics updates.

• Twitter: To stay on current trends, you can follow news from top industry leaders and SEO experts.

• SEMrush Senso: This tool offers a deeper insight into the volatility of rankings over time. You can personalize your scope of analysis based on SERP, site category, and device type.

Preparation For Ranking Updates

It is not easy to find out how an algorithm update and new page experience metrics will affect your search engine rankings. The ways are as given below.

• Check loading speed: Site speed plays a key role in your page experience. Research says that over 50% of visitors will move out of your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. The major reason for slow loading speed is using HD images and unnecessary codes.
• Check Landing Page and Visual Stability: Ensure that your website is running perfectly. It needs to be well-structured to facilitate easier navigation for both users and crawlers.
• Ensure browsing safety: Check that your website is free of malware, any security-related problems, and original content.
• Optimize for mobile devices: Nowadays, most people are using mobile devices to do online searches.
• Create quality content: On-page content needs to be relevant, useful, and up-to-date for your target audience to optimize page experience.

Conclusion

For any website to obtain high rankings, it is important to stay up to date and on-target with algorithm updates. We hope this blog on What is Page Experience helps you to understand better about page experience.