As we now know, how users interact with your page is just as influential as what is on your pages when it comes to user satisfaction. Search engines, like Google, have wised up to this dynamic by introducing user experience as a significant component in their ranking factors.

But this created a problem for developers: How do you quantify the user-experience, so that you can take concrete steps to improve it? And, even more importantly, in a way that you know search will recognize and reward you for?

Google’s answer was to introduce user-centric performance metrics. These break down the user experience into its most fundamental and quantifiable factors. They have and are evolving but include the following:

• Mobile-friendliness: Mobile has officially become the de facto way for the majority of internet users to access the web. Google is already using mobile-first indexing, and are almost definitely going to prioritize mobile performance in the future.
• FCP, FMP, LCP, and SI: First Contentful Paint (FCP), First Meaningful Paint (FMP), and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) are all attempts to identify and measure the speed at which the most substantial element on the page loads while Speed Index (SI) measures the overall loading time of a web page.
• Safe Browsing and HTTPS: Feeling and being safe when browsing a website is another factor that impacts user experience. While safe browsing warns users they might encounter malware, phishing, or other common online threats, HTTPS/SSL encryption has become a baseline for secure browsing.
• Intrusive ads: As well as being annoying, unsafe ads can also lead to other security threats.

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