As recently announced by Google, the Page Experience update has completed its rollout since its commencement in July this year. Thus, the elements of this new update are now counting towards the page ranking.
How Ready Was the Industry for the New Page Experience Google Algorithm Update?
Research conducted by Conductor ahead of the rollout, audited over 200 URLs across retail, tech and finance/insurance firms discovered that just 13% of websites met all criteria of the new algorithm update. Of the top retail websites analysed only 9% passed all of the readiness criteria.
How Significant are Core Web Vitals as one of Google’s Ranking Factors?
A few months have passed, enabling the industry to analyse the actual approximate impact of these new ranking factors.
By analysing the Sistrix study, we have learned that Core Web Vitals affect rankings by ~4%. Is that significant enough? Depends on whether you are in a competitive online industry or not, as these few percentage points could be deciding factors between a top google ranking or not.
However, worth noting that other factors, such as content, links, and search intent, still play a much more critical role in improving your Google rankings.
What Are Google Core Web Vitals Anyways?
If you missed our earlier articles, here is a quick reminder. In short, it contains 3 metrics:
- Reaction speed or FID (First Input Delay)
- Loading time or LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
- Visual stability of the page or CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
all of which can be measured through Google Analytics.
For a more in-depth insight into Page Experience and Core Web Vitals and how to track Core Web Vitals in Google Analytics, check out our recently published blog articles.
So What Impact has the Google Core Web Vitals Page Experience Update Had on Google Rankings?
Winners: All domains and good domains saw an average of 3.7% more visibility than at the rollout’s start (Sistrix, 2021).
Losers: domains with poor core web vitals lost an average of -3.7% in their google visibility compared to July (Sistrix, 2021).
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
If you are in a highly competitive e-commerce business, a 3-4% difference can win you the top 5 organic spots. According to industry research, the top 3-5 organic results get the most views, with the results varying from 50%-75%.
If you are anywhere near the top 5 results in a competitive industry, the extra 3.7% boost could help you to significantly increase the volume of organic traffic that comes to your website. Is it worth it? We think so.
If you need help with optimising up your Google Core Web Vitals, do reach out to us to arrange a consultation on how we could help your business gain more organic traffic with our expertise in Core Web Vitals and SEO Consulting.
