Google’s new desktop SERP ranking factor – find out where US domains are!

In February 2022, Google will bring a ranking of page experience and basic online vitality to its desktop search results. The blog post below shows what this might mean for search results and how U.S. websites are prepared to introduce a new desktop ranking factor.

The desktop launch for the site experience will be completed by March 2022

Google hopes to fully implement the site experience ranking factor until the early spring of 2022. One of the key parts of updating a site experience is Basic web data. Three metrics that quantify the user experience on the site:

1. Upload performance: Maximum content color (LCP)
2. Interactivity: First Input Delay (FID)
3. Visual stability: cumulative layout shift (CLS)

Following the introduction of the SERP Experience Classification Factor on Mobile Devices from June to August 2021, deployment for desktop SERPs will begin in February 2022. Google Clock, the introduction is expected to be completed by the end of March. Still need to see how this will affect desktop search results on Google.com?

One in three desktop domains in the U.S. fails at Core Web Vitals

The Searchmetrics Core Web Vitals Industry Dashboard, a monthly updated site performance report for relevant key online vital values ​​shows a clear improvement v user experience on US sites in the last two years:

Dashboard results show that in early 2020, only 22 of the top 100 desktops on the scale met the requirements for all three key online vital values ​​on Google.com. That number has improved since then, with 57 of the 100 U.S. domains having the highest SEO visibility now meets all three requirements of core online vitals. And while that may be good news, there there is still room for improvement on the front of Core Web Vitals. At the end of the day, nearly half of the 100 largest domains in the U.S. fail the Core Web Vitals test for all three measurements in desktop results.

When it comes to mobile search results, recent data has shown this 62 out of 100 best mobile domains in the U.S., they meet all three requirements of Google’s core online vitals. Surprisingly, domains are now more successful at mobile searches than desktop searches, although optimizing mobile sites is usually more difficult and complex than desktop searches.

Winner and Loser Industries: Huge Differences in Core Web Vitalities for U.S. Sites

The most successful sites are B2B, health and dictionary / reference sites. This is not entirely surprising, as dictionaries and health pages focus primarily on thin-text content and less on large images or videos. This, along with fast LCP times, helps these sites work so well.

On the other hand, the least successful websites are fashion and travel sites – areas that place great emphasis on images and videos. In addition to poor download speed (LCP), U.S. mobile and travel sites also need to improve their visual stability (CLS), where cumulative layout changes can occur due to dynamic content on those sites.

How will the Google update affect the SERP?

Will we see domains that don’t pass Core Web Vitals fall in the rankings after the March launch is complete?

Experience with the parties has been a factor in the ranking of mobile SERPs in the U.S. since the summer of 2021. However, it clearly did not cause major changes in search results. Nevertheless, the introduction was soft, spread over three months from June to August 2021. During the same period, Google Core June / July 2021 Update caused major disruption to the SERPs.

forehead Google itself pointed out that the ranking factor of new experience on the page will not have a significant impact on search results:

“While the experience with the site is important, Google still strives to rank the pages with the best information in general, even if the experience with the site is worse. A great page experience doesn’t overshadow great page content. However, in cases where there are many pages that may be similar in relevance, the experience of the page can be much more important for visibility in Search. ” – Google Developers Blog

In other words, site experience and core online vital values ​​are a soft ranking factor this may mean an increase in ranking if other factors, in particular the importance of the content, remain unchanged. As with most of the major updates announced by Google, it is unlikely to have much impact and is likely to be more aimed at educating the market. A similar scenario was seen at Mobile First Index, Mobilegeddon in Speed ​​update.

Conclusion

Based on the experience of introducing customer experience as a factor in the classification of mobile SERPs, no website operator is a cause for concern approximately launch for desktops, which Google intends to complete by the end of March 2022. The site experience and Core Web Vitals are soft ranking factor which may lead to an increase in ranking if other factors, in particular the relevance of the content, remain unchanged.

American sites already are pretty good at Core Web Vitals, although there is still room for improvement as 43 percent of the top 100 desktop sites and 38 percent of the top 100 mobile sites have failed the three core site value tests.

Good user experiencewhich is Google’s experience ranking factor on the page and basic online vital data, is what all website operators want to deliver. And while this may not happen with this new soft ranking factor, sites that don’t provide a good user experience will sooner or later lose – at the latest when users start jumping off the ship because competitors are better.