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Core Web Vitals Google next big update 2021

What the next big update to Google’s ranking system means for your brand

Even high-ranking website content can miss the mark if the technical SEO is not up to scratch. For example, how will your site generate valuable new leads if the main page takes forever to load? Or, what if the browser is slow to react to your users’ interactions, thereby stunting the user experience and leading to unacceptably long waiting times for information? These are just some of the questions highlighting the need to pay attention to more technical aspects of SEO and the content itself, including the latest core web vitals updates from Google.

Your Core Web Vitals Questions Answered

What are Core Web Vitals?

Core Web Vitals are real-world user experience metrics that help determine the quality of the visitors’ experience when interacting with your website. These metrics include factors like website performance, responsiveness, and mobile friendliness.

Why do Core Web Vitals matter?

Today’s customers are spoilt for choice, and it typically only takes a matter of seconds before a poor-performing website sends them off looking elsewhere. Core Web Vitals simply highlight the need to offer an impeccable user experience and rank highly in search by doing so.

What does this mean for my rankings?

Suppose your website currently performs poorly due to factors like long loading times or general lack of responsiveness? In that case, Core Web Vitals will likely lead to reduced visibility in search results. On the other hand, if your website already offers a substantial user experience, it may even benefit from these updates.

How can I prepare for Google Core updates?

Google Core updates are significant updates to Google’s ranking algorithms. These are typically released twice a year, and usually with a fair amount of warning. It’s always wise to keep up with the latest trends and carry out a thorough analysis of your website ahead of time.

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Protect Your Brand

When it comes to website performance, there’s a double whammy for tech companies, such as SaaS firms. In such cases, prospective clients judge the quality of the company’s software and services based on the experience

Google User Experience Metrics that Matter

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Does the main content on your page take 2.5 seconds or less to load?

First Input Delay (FID): How quickly do different browsers react to user clicks, buttons, or JavaScript controls?

Cumulative Layout Shifts (CLS): How stable is your website visually? Are there sudden and unexpected changes to the layout? The ideal value is 0.1.

Google Announces its New Page Signal Experience Metric

Even if two pages tie for ranking based on their content quality, Google will rank the one with the better page experience signal higher. The page experience signal combines several individual metrics designed to evaluate uniform quality across all websites. Now is the time to ensure you have a very high-performing website!

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Access A Plethora of User Experience Monitoring Tools with Google Analytics

You need the right tools to continuously monitor your website and ensure it aligns with your user experience goals. Fortunately, there are plenty of powerful monitoring tools, such as the Google Analytics Platform, which is entirely free to use.

It’s also important to consider the impact of having a technically poor website. For example, a lot of time and money goes into developing strategies such as well-planned advertising campaigns. But if these campaigns send people to a poor website, all that time and money ends up going to waste.

Health Check – Get Ready for Core Web Vitals

Google Core Web Vitals aims to increase the number of metrics for monitoring in the future, with another update announced for Spring 2021. In case you missed the 2020 update, you should consider getting ready now. If you need a website Health Check, we can help. Contact us here.

Also read about the Cumulative Layout Shift update in 2021 here.