The Basics of Google’s New Page Experience Search Metrics

Google recently announced a change in their official SEO rankings system to the new Google Page Experience measurement. Google will now prioritize sites that score well with the Google Page Experience metric and will no longer prioritize AMP sites. Here we breakdown what Google Page Experience is and how you can improve your score.

What is Google Page Experience?

Google Page Experience is a set of signals evaluated by Google that determines several user experience factors, such as page load times, mobile-friendliness, security, etc. Page Experience itself is made up of a number of different pre-existing Google search ranking factors. Specifically, these include:

  • Mobile-friendly update
  • Page speed update
  • HTTPS ranking boost
  • Intrusive interstitials
  • Safe browsing

On top of these factors, Google’s upcoming update will also improve metrics that surround speed and user-friendliness.

Google Page Experience is part of Google’s algorithm update slated to go live sometime in early May of 2021. This element will heavily impact rankings for website owners, with a particular focus on page load times and overall site speed.

Does site speed increase my SEO rankings?

Many publishers have already optimized for many of the factors we mentioned earlier, but one major factor to focus on will be site speed and page load time. If you have a large volume of elements on your page, your site will be slowed down and may not be prioritized by Google.

Site speed already affects your bounce rate. However, Google has also announced that they plan to introduce a visual indicator to search listings that align with their ideal page experience. If your site speed isn’t up to par, you may miss out on a chance to get that indicator.

Essentially, the Google Page Experience update means that publishers who have not been focusing on improving page load times and user-friendliness could have difficulty climbing to the top of their search rankings.

How Publishers Can Improve Their Page Experience

Google’s page experience search rankings will no longer prioritize AMP sites, which is one major benefit for website owners. Instead, a variety of different things will be prioritized in search rankings. Let’s break down how to rank higher in search engine results, increase your site speed, and ensure that your website will do well after the update goes live.

How to Rank Higher in Search Engine Results (SEO)

Content is still number one when it comes to rankings, so don’t pull your focus away from content creation.

In addition to that, you can improve your rankings under Google’s new set of rules by ensuring the following:

  • Your site speed is as close to one second as possible.
  • Your pages include visual cues and plenty of space for customer engagement.
  • The number of pop-ups is at a minimum.
  • Always use HTTPS and secure your site.

You might want to consider submitting your website for an SEO audit as well.

How to Increase Site Speed

To learn more about site speed please see: How to Increase your Site Speed. In that article we cover tips tp help decrease your site speed and get you as close to a one second load time as possible. Additionally make sure you only run asynchronous ads, these are ads that load separately from your page content, greatly increasing site speed. All Healthy Ads run asynchronously. To learn more, get started here.