{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"123 Reg Blog: Small business tips, insight and advice","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog","author_name":"Alexandra Gavril","author_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/author\/alexandra\/","title":"What Google's Page Experience Update Means for Your Website | 123 Reg Blog","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"NgwCy1tKPs\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/seo-2\/googles-page-experience-update-means-website\/\">What Google&#8217;s Page Experience Update Means for Your Website<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/seo-2\/googles-page-experience-update-means-website\/embed\/#?secret=NgwCy1tKPs\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;What Google&#8217;s Page Experience Update Means for Your Website&#8221; &#8212; 123 Reg Blog: Small business tips, insight and advice\" data-secret=\"NgwCy1tKPs\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.123-reg.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2-users-1.png","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"description":"The first major Google update of 2021 is on the horizon. It\u2019s called Page Experience and it includes three new Core Web Vitals \u2014 ranking signals that Google considers important to measure a page\u2019s overall user experience (UX). The search giants have made several recommendations to site owners to speed up their websites and do their best to provide visitors with a smooth and pleasant experience. Google has increasingly prioritised user experience in the last few years. Although these page experience signals have been an unofficial part of Google\u2019s policy, as of mid-2021, the three Core Web Vitals will become official ranking signals. This update is likely to have a significant impact on how Google ranks websites (including yours) in its search results. But don\u2019t worry. In this article, we\u2019ll walk you through the Page Experience update, its Core Web Vitals, what they mean for your website and what steps to take to make sure you\u2019re prepared and in the best possible shape for what\u2019s coming. What are Core Web Vitals? Core Web Vitals are key page experience signals that Google uses to measure different aspects of a user\u2019s experience on a website. These signals refer to things like how fast a page loads, how stable its layout is as it loads, and how quickly users can interact with it. Here are the three Core Web Vitals signals that will roll out this May, as part of the Page experience update: \u2022 First Input Delay (FID) \u2022 Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) \u2022 Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) Google will use these metrics to rank websites together with its existing search signals, which include: \u2022 HTTPS, the secure version of HTTP \u2022 Mobile friendliness \u2022 Lack of interstitial pop-ups that are considered intrusive \u2022 Safe browsing, meaning no presence of malware on your pages Here\u2019s how that looks: Source If you\u2019re using the Google Search Console to keep an eye on your site\u2019s performance and health, you can already review your website\u2019s Core Web Vitals. Log in to your Google Search Console account, and then go to Enhancements to see where you stand. If you haven\u2019t signed up for a Google Search Console account, now\u2019s the perfect time to set it up. It\u2019s free and a great tool to identify issues with your site (including if it\u2019s been infected with malware) as well as opportunities to improve your site\u2019s performance. Next, let\u2019s go through each of the Core Web Vitals signals to explain what they mean and what you can do to improve your scores. 1. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) LCP refers to how long it takes a page to load for someone who visits your site. In other words, it\u2019s the time it takes a user to see your page\u2019s main content on their screen after clicking your link in the search engine results. Do you know how fast a visitor can see the text, images, and videos on your page? If you don\u2019t, you can quickly check your LCP score using Google\u2019s PageSpeed Insights tool. Go to PageSpeed Insights, and then enter your website address or the web address of a specific page on your site. Click Analyze and see what shows up. Here\u2019s an example of how a diagnosis looks: On the top left, you can also select to view your scores and insights for both Mobile and Desktop. The great thing about this tool is that it shows you how your site has performed in real world, based on Chrome browser data. For example, for FCP, Google recommends sites to load within 2.5 seconds. That\u2019s considered a good score. Source So, if yours takes longer than that to load, you might want to review what\u2019s slowing it down and fix it. Scroll down to the Opportunities section to see some recommendations of things you can do to improve the experience and your scores. So, what else can you do to speed up your website? Start with these: \u2022 Choose a reliable host and ensure you\u2019re on a server that\u2019s suitable for the amount of traffic you\u2019re receiving. If you\u2019re not, then consider upgrading to a bigger plan. Check out our speedy web hosting plans, capable of running the most demanding and visited websites. \u2022 Clean up your site by removing unnecessary plugins that you don\u2019t really need or use. \u2022 Compress and optimise your images so they take up less space and load faster. 2. First Input Delay (FID) First Input Delay, also known as Interactivity, refers to how long it takes a user to be able to interact with a page on your site. Unlike the first signal, this second one is a more direct measure of user experience. So, what does it mean to interact? It means to take any action on your page, such as: \u2022 Clicking or tapping on links and buttons \u2022 Filling out a form and submitting it \u2022 Taping to open your site\u2019s navigation on a mobile device \u2022 Playing a video Note that Google doesn\u2019t consider zooming in and out, dragging, or scrolling to be interactions. With this signal, Google looks at whether or not your website is usable by how long it takes a user to do something on your page. Just like with the first signal, Google buckets FID scores into three ranges: good, needs improvements, and poor. Source By Google standards, a FID score of below 100ms is ideal. This means that when a visitor lands on your site and clicks on a button, your site needs to acknowledge, respond to that click, and load the requested content within 1\/10th of a second. If you think about it, that\u2019s what makes a smooth, enjoyable user experience. If you see that a page finished loading and you click on a button or submit a form but then nothing happens, that can be frustrating. So frustrating that some visitors might think your site is broken and decide to leave. So, what can you do about it? You need"}