Key details of Google's new algorithm

An update is underway in Google's search ranking algorithm, which evaluates web pages based on how much users enjoy the browsing experience. In this article I tell you what you need to know about this update so that your website continues to be in the first places. 

Release details

With this update, if Google considers that your website does not offer a pleasant experience, the search engine could rank your pages in a lower position than they had until the moment of the update. 

It is expected that by 2021 this change will be made and according to the search engine, it will give notice 6 months before the launch so that whoever considers it, makes the corresponding optimizations. 

A summary of how it currently works

The experience of the pages in Google search results, also known as "Google Page Experience", is a set of signals that are used to know how users perceive their interaction with a web page, regardless of the type of content and value of your information. 

The first signals include metrics that measure the user experience in real time based on the performance of the load. This includes interactivity and visual stability on the page. Google considers these metrics as a priority, so it assigns them a higher weight. 

This is how Google measures these dimensions:

• Loading performance: This indicator measures the LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), also known as the presentation time of the largest image on a page. At this point, Google defines the experience as good when the LCP occurs within the first 2.5 seconds, from when the page begins to load.  
• Site interactivity: This variable is measured by the First Input Delay or FID (First Input Delay). For Google a good user experience has an FID value of less than 100 milliseconds. 
• Visual stability: This indicator is measured through the cumulative layout change CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift). To provide a great user experience, sites must have a CLS score of less than 0.1.

 Apart from web attributes, Google also uses the following factors to evaluate the user experience of a web page:

• Safe browsing: The page must not contain malicious or misleading content such as malware or social engineering. 
• HTTPS: The page must be published through the Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol. 
• Compatibility with mobile devices: The sites are considered friendly, if they respond to mobile devices. 
• No intrusive interstitials: These are ads that appear while downloading a website. 

The following steps

The search engine is integrating the previous experience signals with the ranking algorithm so they will directly impact the positioning of your site. Google has said it plans to add more experience signals to its algorithms year after year in order to keep up with user expectations. 

Here are some guidelines for you to keep in mind when making the transition. 

1. Seize the day

You still have at least a year before the update takes place, so you can now plan your efforts based on the new conditions. 

Additionally, it is likely that many sites are not really affected by this change since the change of conditions is made for all pages equally. However the optimizations will come and with them the positioning changes. 

2. Pay attention to what is important

Content is still a crucial factor when it comes to positioning yourself in the Google ranking. Therefore, the search engine always ranks better for quality content, even if some elements of the website are not the best. 

Either way, when many pages have quality content, the user's experience on the website begins to have more relevance. 

3. Optimize your speed

As I have discussed in several posts, the loading time of a site is one of the most important metrics when determining the positioning of a page or website. For this reason, it is the place where you should put a large portion of your time and resources.  

The good news is that Google offers a tool called LCP to measure the loading time perceived by users. In this way you can see in a timeline how long it takes to load content. This is the moment when the page becomes useful for the user, so I recommend that you use this tool to make your optimizations. 

4. Reduces known "Error 400"

These problems, also known as "400 Bard Request Error" are an HTTP response status code, which indicates that the server is not available to process the client's request, due to invalid syntax. These errors can cost you a lot, when Google updates the user experience algorithm. 

This is because these errors occur when a user enters an invalid or malicious URL, which is why Google marks them as negative. For this reason, I recommend that you do everything possible to offer safe browsing. 

5. Compare your experience with that of your competition 

This stage is important, especially when many companies are catching up to update. 15 years ago it was keywords, more recently it has been quality link building, and now it is user experience. If two sites offer the same type of content, the user experience will decide which website is chosen. 

To monitor your competition, you must first identify them and then analyze what the experience of using their most relevant pages is like. Tools like Crazy Egg They allow you to easily capture those signals, so that you can compare them with the signals of your own site, to determine where you can improve. 

I recommend that you be attentive to the information that Google can provide about this update so that you can perform the optimizations of the case and ensure your place in the search ranking.