Page experience algorithm update will be rolling out in 2021 and it's going to change your ranking on Google.
—Because of the coronavirus, Google decided to give us all a heads up on the future algorithm update and what it stored to give us… that way you can adjust your website so your traffic doesn’t get affected.
What is Page Experience?
—According to Google the page experience signal will measure aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. Optimizing for these factors will make the web more delightful for users across all web browsers and surfaces, it will help 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.
In other words….they are going to see how user-friendly your website is.
Why is the Page Experience algorithm needed?
Ever since Google briefly announced the Page Experience algorithm to rollout in 2021, many bloggers are curious about how this will affect their ranking in Google.
Smartphones are the principal method of accessing information. That is why Google considers it necessary for sites to be properly prepared to receive this type of traffic.
As the mobile version of sites now has priority in indexing, the attention is all on mobile.
This means that if your site serves a good desktop experience, the challenge is to deliver the same performance on mobile screen as well.
It should be clear to all of us that Google receives traffic from mobile users more than desktop users.
So this is very important to prioritise mobile users more.
According to Google, the update will help mobile users to view more mobile-friendly sites rather than sites only focused on desktop.
So to manage your site's ranking, you have to have the same experience on mobile that your site serves desktop users.
Therefore, this update can affect the SEO because Google makes it clear that it wants to prioritize sites with the best general information, even if the on-page experience is less.
However, when several sites contain similar relevance content, the experience becomes much more important for ranking.
So we can reference the principles created by Peter Morville, from Semantic Studios (UX Honeycomb). According to him, a well-optimized page should be:
-useful: all information provided must be of some use to the visitor;
-usable: navigation and functionality must be clear;
-desirable: the website must contain visually attractive elements (such as visual identity, images, sounds, and even animations) that encourage user interaction;
-localizable: as the essence of SEO, the page must be present in search platforms;
-accessible: the website must be available to all users, regardless of how they access it;
-valuable: the content must provide users with valuable information, something truly relevant to them;
-reliable: the page must also have authority regarding the topic covered and present elements that convey confidence.
These are the basic practices that direct UX, but they also apply to SEO optimizations.
—Google makes it clear that the ranking process of mid 2021 won't be the same as it is now.