What is the Page Experience?
In mid-2021, the way Google evaluates websites and content changed fundamentally. Since then, the Page Experience has also been included in the sorting of search results. The Page Experience is closely linked to the Core Web Vitals and is intended to evaluate a website based on new aspects. This ranking factor was actually supposed to be introduced much earlier, but Google postponed this step due to the coronavirus pandemic. This gave website operators more time to adapt to the changes and make any necessary optimizations to their website.
Page Experience introduced as an official ranking factor
The introduction of page experience as a ranking factor at Google should actually have happened earlier. However, Corona has given SEO agencies and website owners the opportunity to better adapt to the changes in the algorithm. The decisive factor for page experience is a new value that summarizes many criteria and metrics and is intended to comprehensively represent how high-quality a website appears to people.
How can the page experience be improved?
Website operators must understand that the page experience does not just refer to a single value or a single ranking factor, but includes many different criteria and requirements. All the aspects are considered together and this results in a value, the so-called page experience. As the name suggests, this is primarily about the experience that a visitor has on a website. These criteria are then used to comprehensively evaluate the quality of a page.
What criteria should be considered for the page experience?
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Loading time: The Largest Contentful Paint checks how long a website and the subpages on it take to load. If a page loads very quickly, this is a positive sign. A long loading time is more of a deterrent for users.
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Visual stability: It is also important for the Google algorithm that the structure, design and layout remain stable during user interaction. Visual errors should also not occur. The Cumulative Layout Shift is part of the Core Web Vitals and checks how a website behaves during interactions.
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Interactivity: Interactivity depends on how quickly a user can find their way around a website and how responsive a page is. If a visitor lands on a website and then has to spend a long time finding their way around, this tends to be seen as unfavorable in terms of page experience.
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Mobile-friendly: Although compatibility with mobile devices has long been a factor that also affects the position in search results, this criterion is also evaluated separately in the Page Experience. A responsive design that adapts to the device is recommended for websites.
Are there other ranking factors?
In addition to the criteria that primarily concern user-friendliness, there are also ranking factors in the Page Experience that deal with the security of a website. Here, the source code in particular is taken into account and it is checked whether a website even has an SSL certificate. If so, the website is accessible via HTTPS.
