In May 2020, Google announced user experience would become part of their ranking criteria. The factors they’re looking at include:
- Mobile-friendly: Sites should be optimized for mobile browsing.
- Safe browsing: Sites should not contain misleading content or malicious software.
- HTTPS: The page is served in HTTPS.
- No intrusives: No popups or other features that block the main content.
- Core Web Vitals: Fast load times with elements of interactivity and visual stability.
Why is this important? Well, Google will determine if your page is loading fast enough to prevent people from bouncing. If it’s not, you could face a penalty in ranking and be replaced by a website that’s loading correctly.
The goal, according to Google, is to deliver a better user experience, which is crucial to the long-term success of websites.
These features look at how long it takes for your page to start displaying the most important elements, how quickly your site responds to user interactions, and how often layout shifts impact the user experience.
The Site Speed portion of Ubersuggest’s Site Audit report has been updated with the new industry standard web vitals metrics:
- Load time: Largest Contentful Paint
- Interactivity: First Input Delay
- Visual Stability: Cumulative Layout Shift
The data is pulled directly from the Google Page Speed Insights API.
For more in-depth information on Google’s Core Web Vitals check out this blog post.
If you’re looking for more information on how to run an SEO Audit check out this free training.
If you need any further clarification or want to make suggestions, please reach out to us at support@ubersuggest.com, we love hearing from our community!