Are you prepared for the Google Web Vitals update?

How would your business be impacted if your website came up first on Google every time a prospect searches for a product or service that you offer? Would it help if your business was ranking at the top results for all the keywords your potential customers are searching for? Of course, it would! Today's reality is that Google can make or break your business.

You may not be able to get top positioning for every keyphrase, but a worthy website that pays attention to how Google works and how its target audience behaves online will always win when it comes to attracting, retaining and converting visitors to customers.  

Google rarely reveals any part of the secret sauce that powers its algorithm; however, in mid-2020, Google made a public announcement giving insights on its ranking recipe. Google acknowledged that it is their goal to rank reputable websites higher and that "digital experience" will play a crucial role in positioning. Google calls this algorithm update "Web Vitals."

It is no surprise that Google has pushed businesses to build "better" websites. After all, it is in Google's best interest to ensure that every click leads users to websites that present relevant information in the most engaging way. Previously it has been challenging to measure digital experience due to a lack of a defined metrics that Google values. Yes, we know that Google is a sucker for websites that retain visitors. However, with the core "web vitals" now identified, we can directly measure, track and improve digital experiences.  

Following are the three core web vitals that impact digital experience: 

1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) 
2. First Input Delay (FID) Page responsiveness 
3. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) 

Let's explain each of the above in simpler terms. 

Largest Contentful Paint focuses on page load speed, emphasizing what your audience sees in the first 2.5 seconds. To accommodate this requirement, designers will have to rethink the popular design trend of having a large image at the top of your webpages. The key is to focus on giving the user information they intended to see as quickly as possible. 

First Input Delay relates to "page responsiveness." Google has done extensive analysis of what frustrates users, and it turns out, we are very impatient creatures. There is no surprise there. We get agitated if things on a website don't function how they are supposed to or take time to act. Make sure that your website works the way users intend it. 

Cumulative Layout Shift prioritizes the visual stability of your webpage as users scroll through the content. If users have to shift back and forth, repeatedly scrolling to get the details they need, it will create added frustration and diminish the digital experience. The right approach is to create content nuggets that present ample information within the viewable screen size. 

The good news is that LCP, FID and CLS metrics are measurable. If you are not analyzing your online audience's behaviour closely, you miss out on the significant advantage of being found on Google. The sooner businesses act to optimize their website's digital experience, the greater the benefit will be once Google's Web Vital goes live. 

A free tool you can use to test your website is GTmetrix. It checks for speed and does a quick analysis of your website code to suggest improvements. 

If you would like to have a thorough analysis done on your website, feel free to reach out to my team at 2web.ca.