Many changes are coming within the new year, including updates to Google algorithms. Starting in May of 2021, one of the premier search engines will begin ranking based on “Page experience”. This new metric, also including “Core Web Vitals” will be keying in on various properties of a website that deal more with user experience in addition to the typical SEO factors (keywords, type of content, etc). With that in mind, here are the key factors that will play into the “Page Experience” update in May.
Website Accessibility Matters
UX is a critical element to positively ranking from an SEO standpoint. A well-functioning website will drive more traffic and keep users on for a lengthier period of time, thus more sessions occurring on your website. Other factors such as alt-text, audio/video that includes the usage of keywords in descriptions/transcriptions, will also play a bigger role in helping a page rank come May.
Mobile Usability is Key
With Google switching over to mobile-first indexing, it’s no surprise that how well a website works on a mobile device will become an even bigger contributor to a site’s ranking. By creating a website that is highly responsive to users on mobile devices, which can include animations, video, attractive fonts, and ease of browsing through your site, search engines will detect this as a positive ranking factor, and it will result in increases to your rankings.
Page Loading Speed is crucial
Google has begun to notice and pick up the tendencies of what users experience when they find a website with a certain speed. If it’s faster, users will likely stay on longer due to the ease of accessing content from a website, thus becoming a bigger part of the algorithm and positively affecting rankings. A slower website will detract both users and search engines and negatively affect its rankings in search engine result pages.
Popups are Penalized
Random popups that advertise for something on the website, can be seen as intrusive and annoying to users. Google has taken this into consideration for their own algorithms and now considers them a means of lowering the quality of a website visit, thus losing traffic and decreasing in rankings.
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To have a successful digital marketing campaign, teaming up with a digital marketing agency with an experienced team of marketers is always the right choice. Boston Web Marketing can help utilize your campaign and bring it to its full potential using our team’s knowledge of SEO, social media, and more. Contact us today for a free website audit and to discuss your next marketing strategy.