Google’s algorithm has changed – again.
Now, if your site has a bad “user experience”, your organic search ranking will drop.
There’s 7 metrics– 4 “beginner” and 3 more advanced – you need to look out for and fix real quick if they’re not right.
Ignore these at your profit’s expense:
1. Out and about – Mobile Optimization
Your site working well on mobile browsers is no longer enough …
… it has to look good too.
So make sure your mobile website is optimized for a vertical screen.
2. A huge difference from just 1 letter – HTTPS, not HTTP
Does your website URL start http or https?
The all important “S” stands for secure.
An https URL does everything an http one does.
The big difference is the secure protocol protects the integrity and confidentiality of data between your visitor’s computer and your site.
3. Don’t make it hard for them – Chill on the Pop Ups
Out of every website there is – including your competitors – your visitor has chosen to come to you.
Now they’re here, how many pop-ups stand between them and doing whatever it is that brought them to you?
Are you making them:
- Accept / decline cookies
- Close a support widget asking if they need help
- Stop some auto-playing video
- Close your “subscribe to our newsletter” pop-up
Each of these does, of course, have its place.
But do you really need all of them right there?
Keep your pop-ups to a minimum and keep them intentional.
Remember: a good experience is what keeps visitors coming back.
4. The obvious is often overlooked – Safe Browsing
What about malware?
This malicious software could, for example, be stealing your customers’ credit card details.
When was the last time you checked if your website was infected?
And if you do ever find malware on your site, make getting rid of it a priority.
Now let’s look at three more advanced, core web vitals.
Get these nailed and not only will your user experience be much better, Google will reward you with better organic search rankings:
1. Loading – LCP
Nobody likes waiting for a webpage to load.
How fast yours does is measured by Largest Contentful Paint (LCP):
- Great – faster than 2.5 seconds
- Okay – between 2.5 and 4 seconds
- Poor – slower than 4 seconds
2. The lights are on but no one is home – FID
You’ve got the homepage up … but you can’t go anywhere else.
How annoying!
The time your website takes to respond to your visitor clicking an internal link – or button – is measured by your Forest Input Delay (FID):
- Great – faster than 100 milliseconds
- Okay – between 100 and 300 milliseconds
- Poor – slower than 300 milliseconds
3. My eyes or your website? – CLS
Ever try to click a website button it moves out of place?
It’s not your eyesight, it’s your website’s “visual stability”.
And this is measured by your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS):
- Great – below 0.1
- Okay – between 0.1 and 0.25
- Poor – higher than 0.25
What can you do?
You need some tools …
SEMRush and Ahrefs measure and help you optimize your website’s user experience and SEO.
Both are worth having.
For your core web vitals, Google has a tool called PageSpeed Insights that will measure them.
And use Google’s Search Console to get a Core Web Vitals Report.
Tools are helpful. However, if you really want to fly, you need an experienced partner.
My team at eAccountable would love to work with you to improve your user experience and search ranking.
If you’d like to find out more, click here.
Why not do it now, before a user experience issue kicks you in the profits?