Learn what the Google’s Core Web Vitals update is and its purpose.
- Know what elements are included in the Core Web Vitals update.
- Get tips on how to optimize your blog so that you’re more visible on Google.
Algorithms are ever changing and the way content is written, produced, and circulated is changing too.
Google will update their search algorithm in 2021 with a few key ways that will impact how content is searched for and found.
The update is called “Core Web Vitals” and it includes three key factors that Google considers in their content rankings: site speed, the experience of site visitors, and mobile device compatibility.
Core updates are always happening, so this one won’t be the last.
In this article, we’ve included six ways to make your content more visible on Google despite the updates.
What is the Google Core Web Vitals update?
Core Web Vitals is the upcoming Google update that launches in 2021.
Basically it will give websites new guidelines as to what content ranks where in search results based on a website’s speed, accessibility on mobile devices, and the experience of page visitors.
Your site’s ability to adapt to follow those guidelines will in turn affect how well people are able to locate your brand in search results. The purpose behind this update is to encourage websites to make content more aligned to the needs of humans.
In this way websites at the topmost rankings will be the ones not only most related to a search query, but also be high-quality content and have a great website design.
What is the purpose of the Core Web Vitals update?
Google’s ongoing mission is to rank websites that provide speed, optimization, and content credibility. Google developers incorporate into the algorithm what the human visitor is doing on your site and if their needs are being met.
Thus, the purpose of Google’s Core Web Vitals is to measure how well your website and content best serve the needs of the website visitor.
What is Google’s mission? To help everyone find the information that they’re looking for. Also Google’s human-centered approach is to “deliver the most relevant and reliable information available”.
The Core Web Vitals update follows that mission by motivating content and website creators to improve the quality and human accessibility.
According to Google, their search engine should:
- Deliver the most relevant and reliable information available
- Maximize access to information
- Present information in a useful way
- Protect your privacy
- Help creators succeed online
Does this sound familiar? It should. We also encourage our clients to strive to be as human-centered as possible to create rapport and loyalty in their customers.
Basically, in 2021 website visitors want pages to load quickly, be accessible on their smartphone, deliver quality content that’s not interrupted by too many popups, and not be held back by off kilter button hitboxes or menu complexities.
In the next section, we’ll break down each of the areas that Google is targeting with this update and what they mean.
What is included in the “Core Web Vitals” update?
Now we’re getting into the nitty-gritty details of the update. Google ranks content that is high quality material, has a great layout, and supports humans locating information.
Here are the elements that Google will consider in this update:
- Website speed. How fast does your website and/or content load? Is there lag while you scroll down the page or past media such as videos or pictures? Does your website load quickly on a mobile device? These are just some of the questions you might ask yourself when preparing to optimize and audit your site for the update. The reason speed is part of this update is because Google knows that viewers will sometimes turn away from a site, despite the ranking or credibility, when it fails to finish loading within a few seconds. This is especially true on mobile devices because, despite their leaps in processing, they still are less powerful than computers. Yet, mobile devices are many people’s choice when surfing the web, even in the B2B industry.
- Page experience. How is your site laid out? Is information, even older information, available to find in a straightforward way? Are the dropdown menus and buttons easy to use, or do they have misaligned hitboxes and touchy expansions? Google refers to this as “page experience” and it represents how well a user can navigate a page to find what they need or even just use the page. It can range from visibility issues like small text or complex drop down menus that don’t work well, or something as simple as a user being able to find the information they came to the site for. If you have downloadable content and blog posts can people easily get to it? Or is it tucked away in another page or a specific search? How often do pop ups occur on your site? Again, review your site on a mobile device because Google is paying special attention to how well sites behave on mobile.
Again, all of these updates go back to making your content marketing and website human-centered.
Human-centered content marketing will become more relevant both in your content strategy but also to rank well on Google search.
Make your content visible on Google
How can you make your content more visible on Google while keeping the Core Web Vitals update in mind?
As a whole, the update is mainly geared towards improving your visitors’ user-experience, which is a vital part of B2B marketing best practices.
Some of the changes you may need to make, such as improving menus and site layout, may require you to reach out to a web developer to help you.
Review these six ways to make your website more visible.
Check the Core Web Vitals report to see how your webpage(s) are ranking.
This could be the first step in your audit as it will give you an idea of how well your site performs in its present state and will rank after the update.
- Avoid keyword stuffing. Now is the time to shed and avoid the bad practice of keyword stuffing. Both search engines and human visitors have grown to avoid pages that constantly use the same choice keywords every few sentences but fail to give relevant information. If you need to use a keyword, use it sparingly and in the correct context. Synonyms are a great way to appeal to your audience’s need for well written content while also keeping the quality and purpose of the content ranked highly.
- Use analytics to see where your visitors are clicking. Heatmap tools, like Hotjar, give visuals of your site to show where visitors are clicking. This can show you what menus, links, and downloadable content are working and which aren’t. This can give you an idea of where visitors are missing important information or calls to action due to layout issues or distraction.
- Use analytics to see how long your visitors are staying on a page. Google Analytics can help you find out how long people stay on your pages. Called ‘sessions’, this time-on-page data will show which pages perhaps didn’t deliver what the visitor was looking for and which did. Bounce rate is another important data figure to analyze.
- Check loading speed using both a computer (and a mobile device). This can be as simple as accessing your own website on a different web browser or incognito page to see how quickly it loads. Check the speeds of both text pages and pages that have videos, gifs, pictures or other more taxing features. Also you want to make sure it’s loading well on a mobile device so use your tablet or cellphone to make sure it isn’t taking any longer than a few seconds to complete.
- Check site compatibility on a mobile device. Again, more people are using mobile devices to get their information than ever before. Audit your site for optimization for mobile devices by creating a mobile-friendly version of your site. Whether choosing a website template or having one custom-made, your website should be built for mobile.
Let’s get blogging!
Now, more than ever before, is the time to create a content marketing strategy and get your content published online.
Consistent, high-quality content is not only helpful to get noticed by humans and search engines alike, but it also builds trust and authenticity with your audience.
Use these six ways to optimize and audit your content for 2021’s Google Core Web Vitals update. If there’s one thing 2020 taught us, it’s to be prepared for the future and fulfill people’s need for more meaningful experiences online.
