Google Page Experience Algorithm Update in 2021
Hi,
Next year Google will be incorporating a new algorithm into their ranking signals. The Page Experience update will give a ranking boost to sites that meet the following criteria:
-Core Web Vitals: Page loading speed and other factors like layout shift
-Mobile-friendly
-Safe browsing practices
-HTTPS
-No intrusive interstitials
For more details of the update: https://developers.google.com/search/do … experience
Currently, the network sites meet the criteria for HTTPS, lack of intrusive interstitials, and presumably for safe browsing practices. Based on my tests of several pages using the tools Google recommends, the network sites are failing tests of Core Web Vitals and mobile-friendliness.
This is the typical result I'm seeing for a mobile Core Web Vitals test of articles on Bellatory as an example:
This is the result for mobile-friendliness:
Pages score around 5-6% for mobile PageSpeed and ~38% for the desktop test, while the mobile-friendliness test only fails due to a few minor issues.
Google has stated that this algorithm update won't go live until next year, and that they will be giving 6 months notice before it does, so there is plenty of time to deal with these issues before then. It'd also be hard to really know where the network sites stand until the new platform changes are finalized as I recall that old HubPages features like comments are apparently being embedded into the new platform as a stopgap solution? It is likely that this contributes a lot to slow loading speeds.
Hopefully this future update is something being factored into Maven's plans for the sites and there is a goal to pass all the criteria before it does become relevant. It'd be a shame to lose search rankings for something we have many months to prepare for, especially when this is the first time Google has given a lot of objective information and the tools to check adherence.
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