17 Pro-Tips You Need to Know About Core Web Vitals Going LIVE
If you are even remotely involved in any aspect whatsoever having to do with SEO, then you've probably heard that Google's "page experience" algorithm update is expected to go into effect this month, June 2021.
Whatever delays for whatever reasons are (probably) now behind us. It's (probably) happening. But the biggest thing you need to know right now is that...
You should NOT expect a major shakeup in the rankings, at least not yet!
That said, we believe that, over time, this is going to be a very big deal. But Google will be careful rolling it out due to the fact that suddenly shaking things up would bring even more unwanted attention to their powerful monopoly on search — and that's something they'd prefer to avoid if at all possible.
So, instead, you can expect them to turn up the heat slowly and with extreme caution. For now, relevancy will rule the rankings and the page experience element, based on the Core Web Vitals metric, will be the tiebreaker when all else is equal. For now.
Why this, Why now
So let's address the elephant in the room right away. Page Experience, as measured by Core Web Vitals, is mostly about speed. And, while it's true that your site visitors want super fast pages, it's even more true that super fast pages make Google more money.
It's also true that Google is systematically factoring elements into the algorithm with the sole purpose of maximizing their profits. Yes, faster load times will indeed benefit both consumers and businesses alike, but the fact remains that the primary reason for coercing sites to meet Google's arbitrary Core Web Vitals guidelines is to enhance the profitability of Google's advertising model.
Faster site loading = more ad views = more revenue. A few seconds here a...