- Google will consider new factors when ranking search results
- The new changes will be implemented from May 2021
- Google originally shared the concept in May this year
Google’s Proposed New Factors for Rankings
Google Search will try to further improve end-user experience for results by factoring in metrics like page speed, visual experience, and more, the company has announced.
The factors that Google currently takes into consideration include mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. Google has shared the news on its official blog. The new metrics that will be implemented starting May 2021 include page load times, stability, and responsiveness.
For a page to offer a good user experience, it should have LCP occur within the first 2.5 seconds.
Google’s standard for Good User Experience
Google measures the interactivity of a page through First Input Delay or FID (measuring load responsiveness) and the search giant believes an FID of less than 100 milliseconds offers a good user experience.
Coming to visual stability, the company uses Cumulative Layout Shift or CLS (measures unexpected layout shift that occurs during the entire lifespan of the page) which needs to be less than 0.1.
These new Google Search metrics are part of ‘Core Web Vitals’ and will work alongside the current factors that determine search priority including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines.
Further, Google is planning on testing a visual indicator that “highlights pages in search results that have great page experience”.
These indicators, along with the snippet or image preview, will help users with topical context to know what information a page can provide. This Search feature will also launch in May 2021.
Google has also released various tools for publishers to improve their page experience. Lastly, it has also recently launched an AMP Page Experience Guide for AMP publishers.