Technology

Daily Buzz: Google to Shift Search-Ranking Metrics

The search engine will start ranking sites based on “page experience” starting next year. Also: Rethink your mindset on A/B testing.

If your site has a low-quality surfing experience, it could soon get docked by Google in the search rankings.

The company announced on May 28 that it would start ranking sites based on three new ranking metrics it calls “Core Web Vitals”: the speed at which a site loads; the speed at which a user can first interact with a site; and a site’s visual stability when loading.

“We believe user engagement will improve as experiences on the web get better—and that by incorporating these new signals into Search, we’ll help make the web better for everyone,” said Sowmya Subramanian, the company’s director of engineering for search ecosystem, in a blog post.

One piece of positive news about this is that the change will not be immediate. The company plans to implement it sometime in 2021, in part due to concerns about COVID-19. But when the world gets back to normal, it’s something you should be ready to fix.

Effective A/B Testing

Testing is the ideal way to figure out if a messaging strategy is doing its job, but too often, marketing pros may push it to the side because of the potential that it could prove too difficult.

At the Michigan Society of Association Executives blog, Wes Sovis of the Q+M Agency makes the case that such testing isn’t as hard as it looks. He suggests starting with your email newsletter as a way to dip your toes in before trying other tactics.

“Testing how different topics in your subject line changes open and click-through rates, for example, can help you craft subject lines that are more engaging to your members,” he says. “You can also test things like time of day the newsletter is sent, day of the week it’s sent, and plenty of other variables that will help you improve your metrics.”

Other Links of Note

Having trouble cutting the costs of your cloud implementation? CMSWire has some strategies that could help you make things less painful on the pocketbook.

Speaking of cutting costs, CIO has tips on strategies IT departments can take to trim the fat from their budget.

Eventually, people will transition out of roles. At his Idea Architects site, Jeffrey Cufaude makes the case that the role should be resilient even if the person leaves.

(solidcolours/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Ernie Smith

By Ernie Smith

Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. MORE

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