Oliver Mitchell

Google Page Experience Update and Its Impact

Google’s July search algorithm update has started to roll out, introducing some vital changes across the board. In their eternal quest to optimize user search results, Google has activated some vital page experience metrics that will now influence ranking algorithms in a major way. So, what has changed and what to do if you’re impacted? Find our expert answers to these and other questions below.

With the cleverly dubbed ‘Google Page Experience Update,’ the revamped algorithm will reward websites that have been purposefully designed to provide the best user experience, according to Google. Mobile usability, web safety, favorable ad experience, as well as HTTPS usage instead of HTTP are the main ranking aspects that will influence your site’s positions in Google. 

With that being said, those online projects that don’t focus on top-notch, engaging page experience for their users will most likely face a drop in their keyword rankings. Remember those intrusive pop-ups that get in the way of finding the info you need? If you have those on your website, now’s the best time to change something about that. 

So, what to do if you’re hit by the updated algorithm and are currently facing the loss of rankings? First and foremost, don’t panic. It doesn’t mean that something’s critically wrong with your project. Also, a negative rankings impact doesn’t mean that you should take a specific action right here and right now. As a matter of fact, a lot of websites experience an increase in rankings after a downgrade, that’s a given. However, Google recommends considering the following parameters to enhance your users’ on-page experience:

• website loading speed;
• content uniqueness;
• content quality;
• visual presentation quality;
• the relevance of your headlines and page titles;
• primary focus on mobile friendliness.

All these details on search engine algorithms might sound a bit confusing and scary, but no worries. There are some easy steps you can take to prevent bad things from happening and get your online project ready for the newly updated page experience metrics. First, make the most of the tools for monitoring your website’s performance (e.g. Google Search Console, Mobile-Friendly Test, etc.), audit your site across multiple devices, boost your PSI score, and bolster your content by using images the smartest way possible.

If you provide an excellent user experience on your website, you are sure to sail through this update without any negative changes to your search visibility, potential customer conversion rates, and overall business results. No doubt, your content quality and relevance is still the most important ranking factor. However, with the new web performance metrics introduced by the update, you will need to go the extra mile to keep your website users happy. 

Website owners and SEO specialists are now on a mission to keep their projects ranking on top, taking all the aforementioned factors into account. If your website has experienced a negative search performance change lately, make sure you study the external factors prior to deciding to make any design and content changes. Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below. Your opinion is very important to us.