Google is alerting webmasters through Search Console about slow-loading pages on their sites.
These notifications are noteworthy because they draw on measurement data from the Chrome User Experience Report, highlighting the significance of certain metrics:
- First Contentful Paint: This occurs right after navigation when a browser begins rendering pixels on the screen.
- Time to Interactive: The moment a page is fully visually rendered and can reliably respond to user inputs.
- First Input Delay: The duration between when a user first interacts with a site and when the browser can respond to that interaction.
These metrics are new and have been developed by the Google Chrome team this year.
The latest alerts from Google Search Console suggest that Google is monitoring these metrics to assess page speed.
Therefore, SEOs who aren’t already knowledgeable about these metrics may want to start examining them more closely.
You can make your own assessment after reviewing the complete warning issued by Google’s Search Console:
“Google has noticed that your site’s performance is significantly below average. Results from user measurement data from the Chrome User Experience Report indicate that pages on your site are slow to become interactive. This can significantly impact your business performance and cause user frustration.
Speed is a ranking factor for both mobile and desktop search results. Although the specific factors used for ranking are not disclosed, we recommend utilizing a variety of metrics to understand your site’s performance, including first contentful paint, time to interactive, and first input delay.”
Google then suggests the following steps to address the issue:
- Use Lighthouse to audit pages
- Improve low performing pages
- Update your sitemap
Oliver HG Mason shared a screenshot of the warning on Twitter:
"New Search Console Warning is weird and informative."
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