Google has announced that Core Web Vitals, combined with UX-related signals will become ranking signals in the May 2021 update. This early announcement has left us ample time. In this article, we will talk about how you can prepare your website for the Google Core Web Vitals Update.
The objective of SEO is to ensure a higher ranking on Google SERP so as to increase traffic on one’s website and fulfilling digital marketing goals. Hence, to stay updated on Google algorithm updates is crucial for digital marketers and SEO practitioners.
Before starting, let’s get some basic things clear-
What is Google Core Web Vital update?
Google constantly keeps updating its algorithm so as to provide the best search experience to their users— Google Core Web Vital update is one of those. According to it, websites should prioritize page experience to ensure higher Google ranking.
Google Core Web Vitals comprises three metrics which are indicative of user experience that your site provides. It basically includes loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
Those metrics are-
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) measures loading performance of a website.
- First Input Delay (FID) measures the site’s interactivity.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) measures the layout shifts.
To measure Core Web Vitals on your website, Google has 6 tools-
- Search Console
- PageSpeed Insights
- Lighthouse
- Chrome DevTools
- Chrome UX Report
- Web Vitals Extension
With this clear, let’s hop onto-
Ways to prepare your Site for the Google Core Web Vitals Update
# Focus on content
Content has been and still remains the king. A great page experience isn’t all and won’t amount to much in absence of a quality content. Even Google itself prioritizes content and rewards websites that provide quality content.
# Mobile friendliness of website
Google has been particularly invested in providing a better search experience to it’s mobile users. Websites that are not mobile friendly are penalized by Google. Hence, it is important to optimize your website in a way that it is easily accessible through mobile phones to ensure that you maintain a higher position in Google SERP.
# Upgrade web hosting
Having a sluggish website means a bad user experience and a higher bounce rate– which eventually leads to demotion in Google ranking. To improve your website loading time, minimize JavaScript execution and check delays in user interactions, it is crucial to upgrade your web hosting.
# Make above-the-fold content your priority
Your above-the-fold content is what your visitors come across at first. If you can hook your visitors with it, there is a great chance you can convert them. Hence, you should optimize it first and save non-critical JavaScript for later.
# Focus on image optimization
The value of image optimization is often undermined by many webmasters. All while it plays a significant role in Google ranking. To have relevant high-resolution images that are properly labelled, employ relevant keywords and alt tags is necessary for image optimization. Following all this along with LCP criteria is all the more crucial for banner image on your website. According to the LCP metric– ideally, the Largest Contentful Paint should load within 2.5 seconds.
# Include width & height attributes for visual media
Reserving space for loading content is crucial to minimize CLS. For this, always remember to define width & height for your visual media elements. Doing so will allow you to avoid sudden shifts in your layout as your media loads.
# Employ Google optimization tools
Google provides various web vitals tools like-
- Search Console
- PageSpeed Insights
- Lighthouse
- Chrome DevTools
- Chrome UX report
- Web Vitals Chrome extension
…which are made available by Google to help webmasters ensure that they are meeting Google’s standard for site quality. To gear up for Google Core Web Vitals Update, it is crucial to optimize your website using these tools.
The bottom line is…
Websites should provide a great page experience in order to make sure that they are not negatively affected by Google Core Vitals Update in March 2021. By focusing on the factors as mentioned above, you can ensure a great page experience for your visitors. However, these factors are not absolute and are subject to changes and modifications by Google– but broadly, these are it. Moreover, by optimizing your website with quality content, media, and by ensuring mobile friendliness, you can also attain higher virtual visibility for your website on Google.
If you are finding difficulties to achieve your digital marketing goals, you can take help from digital marketing company in Mumbai. Let us know how you feel about this article in the comment. Stay tuned for more.
