No-indexed Pages May Affect Core Web Vitals

2021 is just around the corner and Google is all prepared to give you surprises. One of these surprises which have been rolled out for May 2021 is called the ‘Core Web Vitals’. So is it just one of Google’s tactics to revamp everything and make every one of us nervous or is this something serious? Let us hear it from Google and what SEO consultants say?

Google has affirmed that no-indexed pages can still make a difference for your website. In the coming years when Google will start to evaluate your websites, it will consider how well the website acquiesce with the Core Web Vitals, SEO consultants taking into account the no-indexed pages, making it a part or important element of “page experience” signals. Soon this will make the Core Web Vitals one of the search ranking factors.

Above was just a brief introduction of Core Web Vitals. Now let us see the hidden meaning and power of it.

SEO consultants: What Are Core Web Vitals?

To begin with, although we spend so much time in optimizing our websites and web content with the help keywords suggested by the SEO professionals and SEO consultants, creating backlinks and focusing on the mobile experience, Google in the background is paying attention to the on-page experiences. Why so? Because these signals account for visual stability, the page’s loading speed, and its responsiveness to a command. So one can say that from now on, some of the factors which Google is going to consider while ranking your pages or your website are:

• HTTPS- the most important one for keep creating a secure passage for your visitors and developing credibility among them

• Non-intrusive performance- that the pages do not contain any kind of issues with the primary content

• Mobile friendly- it is all about how well your website respond when accessed through mobile phones

• Safe browsing- does your website contain any kind of malicious software or misleading content?

• Core Web Vitals- the factor which is going to be the renowned one from 2021 as it will help in loading the pages quickly and maintain the visual stability and interactivity of the same.

Now from the above stances, you can make a picture of how Google will or might use the no-indexed pages which were being kept aside for long. However, for a long time, the SEO consultants and website owners have only talked about the importance of keywords and their role in ranking the pages and websites. But times have changed, and now these SEO professionals are debating over this new hot topic.   

Why Should You Care?

Why shouldn’t you? Taking into account that these no indexed pages are already out there and are a part of the whole picture, you should consider this as a serious matter. People will see its functionality on your website’s or page’s performance even if it’s not indexed, making your website faster or slower than your competitors.

So how does Google turn up with the data found in the Search Console?

To aggregate data for measuring the Core Web Vitals, Google simply collects pages in a group (including no-indexed pages), evaluates them, and then utilizes this accumulated data to determine Core Web Vitals for the entire website. And this same process will be used when the Core Web Vitals comes out next year.

Now can you see how you cannot run away or ignore something that is already in existence and is an essential part of your website?  

Now… if after going through everything mentioned above you are a little tense then don’t be. Why? Because the good news is that you are already giving your visitors the finest on-page experience and you might not even have to do the additional updates. But, and yes there’s a ‘but’ here, that is, you should give your undivided attention to these Core Web Vitals Metrics.   

Core Web Vitals Metrics

As discussed above the Web Vitals report includes identical web pages, page status, and metric types grouped by URL performance and then a report is prepared based on the three main metrics: LCP, FID, and CLS.

If somehow the URL lacks in the minimum amount of data for the above-cited metrics, then, it will be omitted from the data report and the page’s status will be considered as below par.

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

Though the name is way too technical, it is simply defined as the time taken between clicking on a link and the content appearing on your screen. Or you can say how much time a page takes to load and reach from one point over the internet to its actual viewer.

Google has benchmarked this time as 2.5 seconds and you can achieve this lightning speed by upgrading your web host, or removing large elements, or removing unnecessary third-party scripts.     

First Input Delay (FID)

This UX metric can make a huge difference in making or breaking a potential sale. This metric measures the responsiveness of your website when the first interaction takes place. It takes into account how much delay is in between the user’s action and actual action happening on the website. In simple terms, it is about measuring the frustration experienced by a user.

For improving your website’s performance, you can try deferring or minimizing JavaScript, start using a browser cache or simply remove any non-critical third-party scripts.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Beginning with an example to simplify it for you. Have you ever experienced any video or unnecessary buttons keep popping up while you’re reading a paragraph and that pop up just pushes your paragraph down the page? Now you have to again scroll all the way to find the piece you’re reading. Isn’t this annoying? These pop-ups and unexpected layout changes affect your website’s visual stability making it performing poorly as per Google’s benchmarks.

To optimize CLS your goal should be to make your website pages less frustrating and less intrusive. For this make sure that ads are designated to one place and don’t shift while the page loads. Another thing you can keep in mind is to use media with set size attribute dimensions so that the user’s browser can recognize exactly how much space a particular element takes up on that page. 

To Conclude

Finally, SEO consultants say it is a stage where we all know that ignoring any of the factors mentioned above will be a suicide situation. There are no two ways in saying that Core Web Vitals and SEO go together and are equally of the same importance. So to keep up with your competitors and preserve your ranking pay attention to these metrics.