May 2021, Google has reported that Page Experience will soon have an impact on desktop search rankings. Previously, this was only the case for mobile rankings and was rolled out further with the Page Experience Update between June and August of this year.
Since last week (November 4), Google has announced more details and a concrete timeline for the rollout of Page Experience as a desktop ranking factor via the Search Central blog: The rollout is scheduled to begin in February 2022 and be completed by the end of March.
What factors are important for the user experience and page experience of a website?
In addition to the Core Web Vitals, HTTPS security, annoying interstitials and mobile usability are also used to evaluate the page experience. However, mobile usability is only used for the evaluation of mobile rankings, not desktop rankings (makes sense).
| Factor | Evaluation | Mobile | Desktop |
| Core Web Vitals | Stability, page speed, interactivity of the website | yes | yes |
| HTTPS security | The pages are made available via https | yes | yes |
| No annyoing interstitials | The contents of the website are freely accessible (without disturbing advertisement e.g.) | yes | yes |
| Mobile usability | The pages are optimized for mobile devices | yes | no |
What if I have a separate mobile or desktop version of my website?
Some websites still work with separate versions, that is, there is a mobile and a desktop version of the website.
Example: m.website.de (mobil) and www.website.de (Desktop)
Thus, the pages have different URLs. This method is not necessarily recommended because both versions have to be managed and maintained separately. However, if this is the case, then the desktop versions of the URLs are evaluated for page experience and ranking.
The better alternative is responsive web design, where the display adapts to the respective device (smartphone, tablet, desktop, etc.) via CSS. This can be done during the next relaunch.
How can I prepare my website for the rollout?
In principle, the same factors are considered for the evaluation of desktop rankings for websites as for the evaluation of mobile rankings. According to Google, there will be a report in Google Search Console in advance, which shows how the pages currently perform in terms of page experience.
