Links in Android are now labeled as fast based on web.dev metrics

Did you know that fast pages will now be labeled in Android search?

Hello. Thanks for listening to SEO tips today.

Google just announced on their Chromium blog that Chrome 85 beta will begin to use the Web Core Vitals measurement to highlight faster loading pages in Android search. They are starting by labelling fast links via the link context menu on Chrome for Android. However, once this is rolled out, all Chrome users will see labelling if they have Lite mode or “Make Searches and Browsing Better” turned on.

The labelling is based on signals from the Core Web Vitals metrics that quantify key aspects of the users’ experience, as experienced by real-world Chrome users. The Core Web Vitals will be a ranking factor in 2021 (so they should be on your radar anyway) and the metrics measure:

• loading time
• Mobile responsiveness, 
• And whether the content shifts as it loads.

Google is using these metrics as a way to define a bar for providing a good user experience. 

This “fast link” will be shown when users click and hold on a link. Here’s what it will look like:

If you’re not sure what your site’s Core Web Vitals metrics are today, you should start measuring.

There’s a variety of ways to get the measurement. It’s in Chrome’s Lighthouse, DevTools, PageSpeed Insights, and in Google Search Console.

Also if you crawl with ScreamingFrog, you can use the PageSpeed API to pull through those metrics. There is also a Google Data Studio Chrome UX (Crux) dashboard that you can use to pull through those metrics.

So that’s your tip for today. If you’re not measuring your CoreWeb Vitals today, you should.

Thanks for listening. Come back tomorrow for another SEO tip.

Listen to the previous episode: Using Reddit for SEO research

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