Google making an update in and of itself is hardly breaking news. After all, the California-based company made 3,200 changes to its search engine alone in 2018.
However, it’s very rare they announce that one is going to take place prior to it doing so. But that’s exactly what they’ve done ahead of their 2021 page experience update. Keeping in mind the impact and fallout from COVID-19, website owners have been given six months to prepare accordingly.
In this blog post, we’re going to give you a couple of tips so that you can get ready and make sure that your rankings don’t take a nosedive.
Make your website easy to both use and navigate
Even though we’re a fifth of the way through the 21st century, there are still countless websites where it would be easier to navigate your way through a maze instead. Which, quite frankly, is ridiculous.
Along with providing value to your audience, your website must be easy to use and get around. That means only having the pages you absolutely need, keeping copy concise and adopting a minimalistic theme that makes everything clear and easy to find.
Users will decide within a couple of seconds whether or not they want to continue using your site. And a big part of this will lean on whether or not they can get around it with ease. So, make sure they can get around it with ease.
Sorry to mention it again, but… you need a mobile-friendly website
This isn’t anything new. More people are using their smartphones to surf online with every passing year, meaning that your website needs to be optimised accordingly.
As things stand, your site’s mobile page capabilities already affect where you sit in search engines. Therefore, you hopefully already have a website which is well-optimised for this medium.
Carrying out regular audits will ensure that you continue to be user-friendly across mobile platforms. Think short texts and visuals – whether that be images or videos.
Look at your competitors
While it’s not healthy to constantly compare your business’ journey to others, it does help to look at what your competitors are doing every now and then. You might find that they’re doing something you can capitalise on, or that there’s something wrong with their website which you think you can do better.
Look at not just what they are and are not doing, but also consider how their user experience differs to yours – both positively and negatively. By doing this, you’ll gain a better understanding of where you are likely to sit once Google implements its new updates.
Final thoughts
Google bringing in a big user experience update should be music to your ears, because it will weave out all of the websites that disregard this.
The truth is that this should already be one of your priorities. UX is a SEO determining factor, when we think about web page speed and mobile optimisation. All this update is really doing is making sure that you’re creating a positive online experience for your audience and providing value at the same time.
You’ve been given prior warning, so there are no excuses. Start preparing now; look at what is working, what isn’t and tweak your strategy in accordance with these.
To read more about the incoming Google update and future of SEO, check out our recent interview with Top Business Tech Editor-in-Chief Matthew Hughes.
