What Does the Google Page Experience Update Mean for Your Website?

Very soon Google will have completed its update of Page Experience. This update began in mid-June, and the tech giant expects it to be fully operational by the end of August. Google began preparing the public in advance so they would have time to make adjustments to their websites to avoid experiencing problems with their search results. What is Google Page Experience, and how does it affect websites?

What Is Google Page Experience?

We have previously talked about how important user experience is for websites, and why companies should design their sites to maximize user experience. Essentially, if users have difficulty navigating a website or experience frustration with site speed, searchability, or organization, they will click out more quickly and will be unlikely to come back. They will find a site that meets their needs but offers better page experience. Google anticipates that and ranks these sites accordingly so that its search engine experience is more rewarding for its own users. 

Google has several user experience signals that are designed to indicate how user friendly websites are. They analyze mobile friendliness, HTTPS security, and browsing safety, as well as website speed and functionality. All of these factor into how Google ranks pages for searches, and they can also be used by website owners to evaluate and improve user experience for their audience. 

Prior to this update, Google factored page experience into search rankings more indirectly. Now it will begin using it as a direct ranking factor. Google will be evaluating websites using Core Web Vitals as well as other UX factors such as: 

  • Mobile friendliness
  • HTTPS
  • Browsing safety
  • Clean browsing (no obnoxious pop ups)

Taking all of the above into account, Google will assign a Page Experience score to each webpage. Higher scores will result in higher search rankings, while lower scores will effectively inhibit websites in the search rankings. Google will be continuously updating how it ranks user experience, fine tuning its evaluation and scoring methodology. Depending on how proactive site owners are, they could be looking at either good news or bad news very soon.

Google offers a number of developer tools and tests for website developers and owners to use to evaluate their own page experience and make changes to avoid search ranking drops. If you would like help evaluating your website and improving user experience for your customers, we at Corporate Conversions are happy to offer our expertise. Call us today for a free website analysis and to begin a discussion about how to make your website a powerhouse for leads and sales.