Good morning, Search Marketer, and is UX the new web standard?
I asked how you felt about Core Web Vitals last week, and we got some varied feedback:
I think Core Web Vitals do stand to be a game-changer, kind of. Unlike https and mobile-first, Google has put a ton of support towards developer tools, transparency in weighting/values of each metric, etc. which leads me to believe that this is going to matter. However, it'll be very high-stakes table-stakes, if that makes sense, in that if you aren't on par with your competitors on performance, you'll see a hit to your rankings.
Not everyone will not be implementing it before the launch. It costs way too much. Implementing https is easy. Mobile-first indexing was a no-brainer. It is VERY difficult and VERY expensive to improve page experience. Given the fierce competition for rank based on content, many sites have equal or near-equal content footing. That will make page experience a game-changer.
I think we've seen some historical evidence of [Google] strong-arming websites into doing things their way through ranking penalizations… This strong-arm approach would result in websites with lower CWV scores to lose position (even if they have better content) – forcing them to focus more attention to improving CWV and thus improving the UX of the whole internet (in G's eyes). Without this approach, content would still reign supreme and the website with the best content would still win out – signaling that UX is not very important.
The common thread in these responses seems to be that we need to make user experience a priority. And, I get it. It's hard. We want beautiful websites. We want multimedia elements. We want interactive content. But those awesome website elements can't come at the expense of the user. A fast, accessible, easy to use site is crucial for both SEO and PPC.
P.S. SMX Report is all about data and metrics. If you haven't signed up for this analytics-focused learning journey yet, don't sweat it. There's still time. Go ahead, snag your ticket and mark your calendar.
Carolyn Lyden
Director of Search Content
