Search Engine Ranking: How Core Web Vitals Affect Search Ranking in Google
How is web design affecting search engine rankings?
SEO trends are constantly changing, and it is important to stay updated. For 2021, Google’s Core Web Vitals are most likely some of the biggest changes to ranking factors. Designed to measure page experience and gauge how well your site performs, Core Web Vitals look at three main areas: loading, interactivity, and visual stability.
While user experience has long been a critical part of search engine optimization, Google is only formally adding these ranking signals to their algorithm this year. As such, many are wondering about how this update will affect search engine ranking on Google search results as a whole. How much will the Core Web Vitals influence rankings, and are these metrics going to have a huge or subtle impact on current web pages?
Learn more about the upcoming update and what changes a website owner can expect to see once the new signals roll out.
Impact of Core Web Vitals on Search Engine Ranking
The addition of Core Web Vitals into Google’s search engine ranking algorithm has raised questions on how big of an effect these will have on rankings. Google’s search liaison Danny Sullivan weighed in on the matter and said that these signals are merely one out of many ranking factors, so he does not think that they will be a huge cause of concern.
Sullivan went on to explain that having informative and relevant content will still be a top consideration for ranking pages. Thus, pages can rank well even with subpar user experience if they have the best content and information. However, if several pages do equally well with content, page experience will be the differentiating factor that will help determine engine ranking.
The bottom line is that Core Web Vitals are not necessarily a “make-or-break” factor that will throw your page off the ranks. If you are doing well in the other factors, your site will likely still perform well, but you should still evaluate your page experience to see what you can improve.
What to Expect with Core Web Vitals Update
While Core Web Vitals are not expected to cause a major disruption in the online space, it does not mean you should completely ignore it. Google has mentioned the possibility of adding visual cues beside a web page as one of the new SERP features to indicate how a site is doing in terms of user experience.
If this is true, it will become even more important to check how you are doing with each of the Core Web Vitals. Even though your site still ranks high on search results pages, users may opt not to visit if they do not see the visual signal on your page. As such, checking your website status will be essential to ensure you are meeting the standards set by Google.
Core Web Vitals play a critical role in ranking pages with similar content. Since these pages will likely have similar scores in terms of relevance and quality, their scores on page experience can greatly affect the resulting ranks. With that, it will be beneficial to review your site ahead of time to make sure you score well on all of Google’s ranking factors.
Create a Holistic SEO Strategy
With SEO being such a broad strategy consisting of many elements, it can be hard to consider on-page, off-page, and technical factors all at the same time. However, taking a holistic approach will be important to ensure you maintain your search engine ranking.
As the Core Web Vitals update takes effect this year, allow us to help you plan out your strategy to ensure that you are ready for the new signals. By considering all the critical components of your SEO efforts, you can continue to increase your online visibility and reach more customers. Contact P3 Agency today at 1 800 515 9422 to get started with a free marketing assessment!