Google has announced a new signal, Page Experience, which it plans to incorporate into a ranking change sometime next year.
The new Page Experience signal is intended to “measure aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page,” said the company.
It will take existing signals related to user experience and combine them with Core Web Vitals, which is a set of “user-centred metrics that quantify key aspects of the user experience”, measuring aspects of web usability such as load time, interactivity and the stability of content as it loads.
The Page Experience signal will be applied to Google Search, but the company also plans to apply it to its mobile Top Stories feature.
“Optimising for these factors makes the web more delightful for users across all web browsers and surfaces, and helps sites evolve towards user expectations on mobile,” explained Google.
“We believe this will contribute to business success on the web as users grow more engaged and can transact with less friction.”
Sowmya Subramanian, director of engineering for search ecosystem at Google, commented: “While all of the components of page experience are important, we will prioritise pages with the best information overall, even if some aspects of page experience are subpar.
“A good page experience doesn’t override having great, relevant content. However, in cases where there are multiple pages that have similar content, page experience becomes much more important for visibility in Search.”
Google said the page experience signal will not go live before the end of the year, and it will give users six months’ notice before it’s launched. More information about Google Page Experience can be found at imagesmag.uk/GooglePageEx.
