Google to factor in user experience on websites

Google is to release a new algorithm designed to judge websites based on the user experience.

Google will begin to measure the performance of a website by a set of metrics called Core Web Vitals. Core Web Vitals will give a score on aspects of a website including the page load time, interactivity, and content loading. The three core metrics that will have the most impact on the Core Web Vitals are:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measuring the loading performance of a website. To adhere to Google’s new measuring standard, LCP should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading. 

First Input Delay (FID) measuring website interactivity. To adhere to Google’s new measuring standard, website pages should have a FID of less than 100 milliseconds. 

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measuring the visual stability of a web page. To adhere to Google’s new measuring standard, pages should maintain a CLS of less than 0.1.

The real impact

Google may not rank a website as highly as it features now if the above issues have not been addressed. Google have stated page experience alone is not a ranking score but the three core web vitals have weight and rankings in the overall Google ranking score of a website. Other important areas to consider are mobile-friendly web design and that the page has a valid SSL certificate in place providing authentication that a website has an encrypted HTTPS connection. 

Click here see how well a website performs. Once an audit has taken place the free report will provide all the areas that need improving.