As Google continues to improve its algorithm to strengthen search result quality, optimising your store in line with best practice UX can be essential to ensure you don’t see a drop in rankings. Its next major update is scheduled for Q1 2024, so we recommend boxing off required changes now rather than wait until the hectic peak trading period. 

Take INP into account

Interactive Next Paint (INP) will become a new Core Web Vital metric as part of Google’s next major update, which will assess the responsiveness of your site. To achieve a good score, you need to identify and address any slow interactions. 

Keep your images optimised 

While images are an important component of your online store, they can also slow down your page load times, so look to use the WebP format where possible and compress them without overly compromising on quality. 

Minify your code

Reducing the file size of your pages can also improve their loading speed, and, in turn boost your performance scores.

Carefully consider functionality 

All singing and all dancing web pages might seem like the best way to attract shoppers, but if on-site features are actually preventing visitors from quickly interacting with your content, they can significantly hinder your site’s overall UX.

Get expert support

Staying ahead of Google’s algorithm updates can be a mammoth task for less technical retailers, so look to your eCommerce provider for expertise and support. 

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