Digital Marketing: A Google Page Experience Algorithm Update is Coming to Desktop in 2022

If you are a small business owner who is looking to drive more traffic to your website; this blog post is for you. Because 90% of all internet searches are done on Google, any work done to increase search engine results needs to meet Google’s standards. As you may know, Google released a new Page Experience algorithm earlier this year with Core Web Vitals (CWVs) aimed at improving the mobile experience. Ever since, digital marketing agencies have been monitoring and adapting their SEO work to these metrics. Now we know that a Core Web Vitals update will be applied to desktop search results in February, 2022.

If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to look at your website’s report and then hire an SEO expert who can help you assess the improvements that could be made to your site.

Digital Marketing: The Google Page Experience Algorithm Update is Coming to Desktop in 2022

Google has confirmed that its Page Experience algorithm update will be rolled out for desktop search results between February, 2022 and March, 2022.

Here’s what digital marketers need to know:

• If you are already familiar with the ranking signals for the mobile update, you’re in luck. The desktop algorithm update will be built using the same ranking signals and their associated thresholds. The other signals that make up page experience, including HTTPS security will remain the same as well.
• SEO experts will not have to worry about “mobile-friendliness” for the desktop experience.

Unknowns:

• We don’t yet know if sites will benefit from the page experience ranking boost on desktop search even if the site isn’t optimized for mobile.
• Just like for the mobile update, we don’t yet know what penalties – if any - Google may employ for failing to meet these new metrics.

Watch out for:

• A new report in Search Console that will make it easier to understand how your desktop pages are performing with regard to the Page Experience update. Google has indicated that the report will be available before March so people can prepare in advance.

Now is the time to provide the best possible user experience across all devices, by following Google’s metrics. Core Web Vitals will continue to evolve as user’s expectations change so it’s important to understand that this work will be an ongoing process.

What is the Google Page Experience?

Google unleashed the “Google Page Experience” in the form of Core Web Vitals in May of 2021. In practical terms, Core Web Vitals are a set of specific factors that Google has deemed important for a webpage's overall user experience (UX). Google uses these factors to create a “Page Experience” score. The goal is to rank the interaction and experience that a user has with a company's products and services in order to encourage the business to provide the best possible user experience.

Specifically, Core Web Vitals measures:

• Loading speed (LCP)
• Interactivity (FID)
• Visual strength or stability (CLS)

In reality, the page experience signals combine CVWs with other signals including mobile-friendliness, safe browsing, secure browsing, and no intrusive interstitials. All together, these signals measure the experience and perception of users when they visit a webpage. Google uses these revealing signals to rank websites and present the most user-friendly pages at the top of the search results.

SEO help from Softwired

Most small business owners do not know how to improve their search engine results rankings to drive traffic to their websites, let alone perform an SEO audit or fix Core Web Vitals issues. The best thing to do is find an SEO expert who can help your business achieve its goals to increase sales, brand loyalty and online traffic; starting with an SEO audit.

Softwired provides digital marketing solutions for our clients and partner agencies. We’ve got you covered for web design, blogs, landing pages, SEO, local online presence and optimization, digital marketing and advertising, and social media marketing. We build websites with WordPress themes and have also been using the HubSpot platform to build blogs and landing pages since 2012.

Whether you’re interested in web design only, SEO help or more; we’re ready to help you get started!