Google has announced that page experience signals will be included in Google Search ranking. These signals measure how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page and contribute to our ongoing work to ensure people get the most helpful and enjoyable experiences from the web. In the past several months, we've seen a median 70% increase in the number of users engaging with Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights, and many site owners using Search Console's Core Web Vitals report to identify opportunities for improvement.
For more information, please see the following links:
- https://www.blog.google/products/search/evaluating-page-experience/
- https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9364853?hl=en
Today, Google announced that the new page experience signals will roll out in May 2021. These signals combine Core Web Vitals with other existing search signals, including mobile-friendliness, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. This change will also make non-AMP content eligible to appear in the mobile Top Stories feature in Search. Any page that meets Google's News content policies will be eligible, and pages with great page experience will be prioritized in the search results. In addition to these updates, Google plans to test a visual indicator that highlights pages with great page experience in the search results.
Google is planning to launch a new visual indicator in May 2021 that will identify pages that have met all of the page experience criteria. This change is designed to help users choose the search result that will provide the best experience for them.
In preparation for this change, Google has released a variety of tools that publishers can use to start improving their page experience. The first step is doing a site-wide audit of your pages to see where there is room for improvement. Search Console's report for Core Web Vitals gives you an overview of how your site is doing and a deepdive into issues. Once you've identified opportunities, PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse can help you as you iterate on fixing any issues that you've uncovered.
For more information, head over to web.dev/vitals-tools.
Google Search is committed to helping users find the most relevant and quality sites on the web. To that end, they have announced plans to incorporate more page experience signals into their ranking algorithm, and update them on a yearly basis.
AMP is one of the easiest and cost-effective ways for publishers to achieve great page experience outcomes. Based on the analysis that the AMP team has done, the majority of AMP pages already achieve great page experiences.
Google Search will continue to link to cache-optimized AMP versions of content in order to optimize delivery to users.
The tools and resources provided by Google Search make it easier for publishers to create great websites and build a web ecosystem that users love.
If you have questions or feedback about Google Search, you can visit the help forums or contact us through Twitter.