Google Page Experience Update

We’ve reached the month of May, and it’s a great time to discuss the highly anticipated Google Page Experience update coming in June. This new algorithm could impact your rankings if you’re not aware of the changes and how you can keep up to date.

Here’s what you should know.

What Is Page Experience?

Page experience essentially refers to how well a user can interact with your website and easily access the information they need. 

Google uses a variety of signals to measure page experience which will be evaluating things like:

• Mobile-friendliness – Is your website formatted for both desktop and mobile users?
• Loading speed – Does it take more than a couple of seconds for your website to load? If so, your bounce rate may be high, meaning that your prospective patients aren’t sticking around to learn more about your dental practice.
• Visual stability – Is your content stable and user-friendly with no unexpected changes or movements while loading?
• Interactivity – Is your website quick and responsive when your user clicks or taps for more information?

Page experience will be another of nearly hundreds of signals that Google considers when deciding how to rank websites. Not following the new guidelines could result in lower rankings and decreased traffic to your website; however, it’s also essential to continue your other website optimization efforts.

How to Boost Page Experience

Here are some things for you or your SEO team to focus on which will ensure optimum page experience for your users.

• Set your website up for mobile users. If you haven’t done this yet, it’s really now a must. Use a website design that is simple and fits well on smaller screens. You can also reduce code and redirects for a better mobile experience.
• Improve your page loading speed. Google says that the optimal page loading speed is around three seconds. Image size files, compression, server response time and caching will all impact page speed.
• Evaluate your calls to action (CTAs). Calls to action invite your patients to book an appointment or contact you. You should include these in your content and CTA buttons throughout your website that users can easily click on.

A Final Reminder

Google has said that having high-quality content should still be the number one focus for improving their SEO.

While these other metrics are important, they should never outweigh the efforts you put into your content. Keep adding content to your website that is reader-friendly, engaging, and interesting to your patients, and this will go a long way to achieve good rankings.

The other thing to remember is that user experience on your website has always been significant. Think about how frustrating it is when you are searching for something, and a website is challenging to navigate, or it’s not user-friendly.

This update is just putting a bit more emphasis on ranking the aspects of your website that you should already be paying attention to anyway. After all, a good user experience promotes better interaction with your website and increases the potential of bringing more new patients to your dental practice.  

If you have questions about Google updates or are unsure whether you’re ready for the Page Experience update, get in touch with an SEO professional to help you. GDW SEO clients can rest assured that our team has been actively preparing your website for the page experience update.