Businesses have been advised to prepare for Google’s Core Web Vitals right “now” after a new study found that a third of marketers either don’t know what the update means, or are unclear about what it entails.
Google confirmed last year that its Core Web Vitals, a set of signals related to a webpage’s user experience, will become part of the ranking algorithm for its search engine in May 2021.
This means that marketers now have just three months to prepare for its arrival.
However, new research by digital marketing enterprise Impression has found that many are still in the dark about Core Web Vitals.
While Google has emphasised the importance of optimising for the page experience during the last 12 months, it appears that webmasters and SEOs are not aware of what changes they need to make.
Impression’s Edd Wilson believes that urgent action is now required, and he urged businesses to get up to speed with Core Web Vitals via videos and other resources so that they can prepare accordingly.
He noted: “The actions required to get websites up to speed and in line with the minimum standards could be relatively extensive – so waiting until May could mean waiting until it’s too late.”
Google has been assessing the Core Web Vitals of websites for a while now, but this will be the first time that it will have a direct impact on rankings.
The Core Web Vitals are made of three main factors related to the load time, responsiveness and visual stability of pages.
Fortunately, brands can check the health of their Core Web Vitals by using Google Search Console, which also offers troubleshooting tips and advice for improvements.
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