How the May update of Google algorithm will affect websites?
All websites SEO will be affected by the Google algorithm update.
In this article we will discuss how websites owners and web designers can prepare for the future changes introduced by Google. We will also explain what exactly Google algorithm update is and why the searching gigant has decided to bring it into play.
You will learn what the Core Web Vitals are and what values they should have to make the website suitable for the new algorithm. You will notice and understand the differences between the current performance of the site and the upcoming one.
30 — seconds summary:
- Google plans to update its algorithm in May 2021.
- The new update aims to highlight pages and prioritize sites that provide visitors with a good user experience as measured by five key signals: Core Web Vitals, mobile friendly content, HTTPS usage, safe browsing, no intrusive interstitials on mobile.
- Core Web Vitals metrics are related to website loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
- It is extremely important for website owners and designers to understand these signals and make the necessary changes.
- The website should be optimised for mobile devices, page speed should be also improved and alternative text for images.
In this article, we will discuss the following topics:
- What changes will come with Google’s algorithm update?
- What will the upcoming update be like and how to understand what Google is looking for?
- What are Page Experience Signals?
- What are Core Web Vitals?
- Desktop vs Mobile
- Google page experience update tools
- Why did Google have introduced this new update?
- What will stay the same like before?
- How to prepare for changes?
What changes will come with Google’s algorithm update?
In May and November 2020, Google officially announced that from May 2021 a new update of the Google algorithm would apply, determining the website’s visibility in search results. With the upcoming update, the algorithm will be enriched with a new indicator — “Page Experience Signals” (PES). Google calls it a “core” update because it’s a large change to their algorithm, which means it impacts a lot of sites.
To find your website for new resources from Google, you will have to pay particular attention to research tools.
What will the upcoming update be like and how to understand what Google is looking for?
Google puts a lot of power on promoting user-friendly websites, which is why the introduced improvements will help with the selection of websites which offer very good UX and easy to understand UI. If these pages are technically tuned, they provide a positive user experience. Google perfectly understands why these issues are taken into account when positioning a page in search results.
In addition, from Google’s announcement, it can be concluded that one of the PES indicators may be the analysis of user behaviour on a given page, i.e. how much time users spend on it, how many pages they browse, after how many actions they leave the page.
Since last December you can check the status of each of the hosts shown in the report summary for a domain with multiple hosting providers.
What are Page Experience Signals?
PES is an indicator that defines the quality of a given page and its usefulness for the user. PES consists of several elements:
• Core Web Vitas,
• Security,
• Website friendliness for mobile devices,,
• No pop-up windows on the website,
• The presence of an SSL certificate — HTTPS encryption,
• Domain history,
• Page loading time,
• Interactivity,
The key update, announced for May this year, incorporated Core Web Vitals criteria into the ranking factors. This is evidenced by the latest Google announcements, from which we learn that in order to benefit from the latest update, the website will have to meet all Core Web Vitals ranking indicators.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are the set of ranking parameters that, from May 2021, will have a significant impact on the position of the website in search Google’s results.
This is one of the measures introduced by Google to increase the emphasis on user comfort while using websites. In this way, Google wants to appreciate the offers with the best user experience. Measure, support and raise the level of positive test results that affect the ease of use, improved and new parameters of the algorithm.
The Core Web Vitals parameters are:
- LCP (the paint with the highest value)
Confirm this measures the time it takes to generate and display the item that is visible on the page.
The LCP value must not exceed 2.5 seconds. - FID (first input delay)
The First Input Delay determines the amount of time the user will be able to respond to the user’s first action.
The default FID value does not exceed 100 milliseconds. - CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
This is a circumstantial indicator, defined as the number of page elements move while loading a page. Any movement of page elements that was not entered by the user, and changes in the quality of the page.
The recommended value of CSL should not exceed 0.1.
Mobile vs. Desktop
Google has noted that pages that score “good” in Core Web Vitals may get a better page quality ranking component. As long as the other components of the page experience signal are considered good. The share of URLs that have all the data in the “good” category is 16.2% for mobile devices and 34.7% for computers.
Most URLs — 25.6% — have “good” LCP and CLS and “poor” TBT. Only 16.2% of URLs are “good” for all metrics. We advise you not to forget about TBT when preparing for the new update.
Google page experience update tools
You can check Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console
In addition to running the page appearance report, Google has also updated the search performance report. It allows you to find pages of good quality, which helps to compare them with your own and other pages.
Source and more informations how to use that: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/more-details-page-experience
Why did Google have introduced this new update?
The safety of the user on the website is important to Google and it strives for the most relevant content. For this reason, with every new update there is a bigger importance on the users security when they are using the websites. Currently, Google Safe Browsing allows you to search a website to identify possible threats, analyse the content and various scripts. The website will be immediately marked as unsafe if the program detects unfriendly content.
What will stay the same like before?
New aspects taken into account in the case of new aspects of the price offer to the series of already functioning parameters assessing user experience. Currently, websites are classified based on:
• Friendliness for mobile devices. Is the website built in accordance with the “mobile-first” approach? Does it work well on mobile phones?
• HTTPS. Is the site made on HTTPS?
• Safe Browsing. Is the website free from threats, viruses and malware?
• No bothersome full-screen ads.
Conclusions — how to prepare for changes?
Earlier information from Google allows you to prepare for the upcoming changes and analyse your website in terms of usability and user experience.
When updating the website, it becomes important to determine who the content is addressed to, or the offer of the website, what the user is looking for on it and are they able to easily find the desired content?
There are many tools with which you can improve the parameters of a website:
However, it is best for you to ask Web Master for help with extensive experience and the ability to perform a website audit, i.e. professional analysis carried out by UX designers and an e-commerce specialist. It increases the usability of the website or application. As a part of the audit, the following cases are analysed: website usability, intuitiveness of shopping paths, information architecture, factors influencing conversion, visual layer, and the method of communication with the user.
