Google is sending warnings to webmasters via Search Console, notifying them of slow-loading pages.
What makes these new warnings particularly interesting is they reference measurement data from the Chrome User Experience Report, and specifically mention the importance of the following metrics:
- First Contentful Paint: The point immediately after navigation when a browser renders pixels to the screen.
- Time to Interactive: The time at which a page is visually rendered and capable of reliably responding to user input.
- First Input Delay: The time when a user first interacts with a site, to the time when a browser is able to respond to that interaction.
These are brand new metrics that the Google Chrome team has been experimenting with this year.
Google’s latest warnings from Search Console are an indication that it is tracking these metrics and using them to measure page speed.
With that said, perhaps its time for SEOs who aren’t familiar with these metrics to start taking a closer look.
Or, you can judge for yourself after reading Google’s Search Console warning in full:
“Google has noticed that your site’s performance is significantly below average. Results user measurement data from the Chrome User Experience Report shows that pages on your site are slow to become interactive. This can have a severe negative effect on your business metrics and can cause user frustration.
Speed is a ranking factor for both mobile and desktop search results. While we don’t disclose the exact factors used for ranking, we recommend using a variety of metrics to understand your site’s performance, including first contentful paint, time to interactive, and first input delay.”
Google then offers the following recommendations to fix the problem:
- Use Lighthouse to audit pages
- Fix low performing pages
- Update your sitemap
You can see an example of the warning in screenshot shared on Twitter by Oliver HG Mason:
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##########https://t.co/tz1mlmzyuv##########
P O S T
##########PS New Search Console Warning is weird and informative.🕷️🗺️ pic.twitter.com/MFlI8l21oC
— Oliver H.G. Mason 📉 (@ohgm) October 24, 2018
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