Since the inception of the Internet, marketers have stressed the importance of having a website that is up to date and fast. With Google’s Core Web Vitals update slated to roll out during the summer of 2021, it has become even more important to keep your website fast. This update adds website speed as a major factor in SEO performance and rankings.
Google’s studies have shown that the longer a website takes to load, the more drastic the effect on the bounce rate. Their findings show that marketers can expect a bounce rate increase of anywhere from 32% to 106% based on the time a site takes to load.
If your business hasn’t begun thinking about ways to maintain your website’s high speed, you’re already a step behind the curve! Read on to learn why marketing agencies in Santa Rosa are stressing the importance of website speed.
Factors Affecting Core Web Vitals
Google has specified the following 3 metrics as major factors in a website’s core web vitals.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This is the time required to fully load and render the largest piece of content on a website, usually a video or large image.
- First Input Delay (FID): This is the time between when a user first takes an action on your page, such as clicking a link or button, and when the browser responds to that action. Another way to think about the FID is that it is a measurement of when the page becomes interactive.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This measures the total of all layout shift, how much moving or adjusting happened on the page format. Including too many shifting elements can result in a negative user experience.
Addressing Core Web Vitals
One of the best tools to analyze your website’s core web vitals is Google’s Pagespeed Insights tool. Through this tool you can determine what aspects of your website are within acceptable parameters and which need improvement.
There are several different services aside from developer-end work that can help improve a website’s speed and core web vitals.
Website Maintenance
Website maintenance focuses on the protection of a website’s high-end performance through regular maintenance to ensure that the back-end of the website stays up to date.
Some key features of website maintenance include:
- Content Display Network acceleration, which focuses on keeping images as optimized as possible to promote faster site speed.
- Routine Plug-In Updates, which ensure that the back-end of the website is as efficient as possible at minimizing conflicting scripts and codes.
- Advanced Website Security, which prevents and protects your website from unwanted hacks, malware, and any other attacks that may negatively impact your core web vitals.
ADA Accessibility
ADA accessibility branches from the American’s With Disabilities Act and adapts it to the digital space. Websites are now being help accountable to keeping up-to-date with trends to help disabled visitors navigate their websites with ease. ADA accessibility focuses on making a website easier to use, which often includes making it faster and easier to navigate!
Some key features of ADA Accessibility include:
- Monthly ADA Testing and Mitigation, which helps compare websites to best practices and provide insights on how to improve the overall usability.
- Public Accessibility Tools, which provide disabled visitors with an array of tools to help them better use your website during their time on-site.
- Content Optimization, which constitutes a large portion of site speed. ADA accessibility helps keep your on-site content in-line with best practices.
Google’s Core Web Vitals update isn’t just coming, it’s already here. If you aren’t adequately prepared to keep your website in line with these new expectations you could see a decrease in your web presence. Luckily, most expert digital marketing agencies in Santa Rosa are aware of this update and equipped with the tools to help you traverse this new digital landscape.
The team at WSI Smart Marketing is comprised of experienced digital marketers who are in-tune with the coming update and best practices of keeping your website in Google’s good graces. To get in touch with us, call our office at (707) 843-3714 today!
