Google ranking update looms in May 2021 (now delayed) – Law firms set to tumble

Edit: Law Firms & Businesses Rejoice: Google Delays Page Experience Deadline

What is the Google ranking update in May 2021?

Have you heard about the new Google ranking update coming in May 2021? The new algorithm update is going to feature something called ‘Page Experience’, and this will have an impact on rankings.

What is changing:

• Google plans to introduce new ranking signals in Page Experience,
• Optimising for mobile, improving page speeds, CTAs, and alt text for images will be a focus,
• This includes existing Google Search signals such as safe-browsing, HTTPS, and intrusive interstitial guidelines,
• It also includes metrics in Google’s Web Vitals to do with a site’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability,
• For site owners and others, understanding these signals and making the necessary changes should be a priority.

Any Google ranking update can cause movement of search result placements (SERPS) and it is important to understand how the changes could impact your business. Google Search results already factor in these search signals and many websites that have kept to Google’s standards may not be affected as much as others.

Carry on reading to find out more.

What is the purpose of the Google ranking update in May 2021?

Regularly updating the Google algorithm ensures users have the best experience when using the search engine. If websites on Google perform badly, users could have the misconception that the issue is with the search engine. This hurts the brand, so what can they do?

What Google can do is perform regular updates to ensure only the best customer focussed websites rank highly. Simply, this update will make sure that user-friendly sites will rank higher than sites that are not user friendly. The May 2021 update was announced in 2019, giving web masters a huge head start on preparing.You can adjust your website now by requesting a page experience audit so your traffic doesn’t tank.

What is Google Page Experience?

Page experience is the way a website is measured for user experience. The better the experience, the higher your ranking will be. It is that simple.

Page experience measures how your user feels when using your website.Simply put, Google will evaluate signals such as page loading time, if it’s mobile-friendly, has HTTPS / TLS and is stable.However, your website ranking will be measured on three main attributes.

1. Loading time of your website,
2. How quickly a user is able to interact with content,
3. The visual stability of the website.

In the words of Google: The page experience signal measures aspects of how users perceive the experience of interacting with a web page. Optimising for these factors makes the web more delightful for users across all web browsers and surfaces, and helps sites evolve towards user expectations on mobile.

We believe this will contribute to business success on the web as users grow more engaged and can transact with less friction.

What are bad page experiences?

An example of a bad page experience could be a result of the following as a single issue, or as a combination.

• No HTTPS / SSL / TLS available on the site. This is highlighted by Google and users shown notifications to not proceed to your site.
• Slow website speed: Users are deterred by slow website speeds. The quicker your site loads the higher your level of customer satisfaction.
• Bad user journey: If your customers are unable to find information on your website, they will go to a competitor.
• Mobile unfriendly: If your website is not mobile optimised this will reduce your Google ranking.

However, there are other issues that could affect your website performance with the above being the most important.

Page Experience visual indicators

As part of the Google ranking update, search engine users will have indicators given to them of which websites give the best experiences.

Visual Indicators will allow a better user experience for search engine users, but it has some cons. However, business owners may lose traffic to competitors that Google perceives to give a better experience.

How will the Google ranking update affect the legal sector?

Legal Futures, the leading legal news resource, released an article warning that Law firms in the UK are set to tumble down Google rankings as a new update looms.

Legal Features have reported that many UK law firms will suffer a big penalty from Google. The reason for this is because of their “failure to prepare for an update to the search results algorithm…”. As many as two-thirds of the top 200 law firms scored less than 50 out of 100 overall in a compliance test.

This is a worrying number for any firm that generates leads using their website. Unfortunately, very few major City firms (Ashurst, Slaughter and May, Clyde & Co and Bird & Bird) performed well and scored over 50.

Legal Futures reported that “South-west firm Foot Anstey propped up the top 200, scoring a mere two, with central London practice Teacher Stern one mark better off. ”The research has shown that law firms such as Gunnercooke and BDB Pitmans, are performing much better than their competitors. They have scored more than 90 and made it to the top of the list. Right behind them are Nelsons, Stephensons, Wright Hassall, Express Solicitors and Stowe Family Law, with scores in the 80s.

Google ranking update – Page Experience Deadline

The deadline for preparing for the update is May 2021. The change of the algorithm will likely produce a huge shake-up in the organic search landscape.

“The consequences for failing to comply with Google’s Page Experience set to release in May 2021 are huge, and taking a hit on your website ranking means a difficult journey back to your original SEO status.”, said the Intellistart Marketing Director Joel Cortez.

“The pages that aren’t complying with these new core web vitals, which focus on site speed, could see significant drops down the search results pages and the correlating reduction in website visits and new enquiries.” – Legal Futures.

Content is still the most important factor in how high up Google pages appear. However, from May 2021, having content which impacts your core web vitals, can also have a negative effect.Go to https://intellistart.co.uk/google-compliance/ to obtain a free audit of your business website.

Follow this link if you would like to check your web page experience