This morning, Google’s Gary Illyes was on the stage at SMX Sydney, and was discussing the user experience (UX). To be specific, he spoke about how UX is a ranking signals on mobile with the Google mobile friendly algorithm, but when you switch over to desktop search, there isn’t a UX algorithm to be found.
Not only did we hear him say this at SMX Sydney, he later confirmed this information on Twitter.
@ToriCushing @jennita @dr_pete On mobile, sure, since UX is the base of the mobile friendly update. On desktop currently no.
— Gary Illyes (@methode) May 12, 2015
With the Google mobile friendly algorithm, we know that it deals specifically with how the web page renders on a mobile device. This update is purely about hte UX of your website on a mobile device. But, when it comes to the desktop, Google isn’t looking at UX signals for ranking.
Will things stay like this, or will Google eventually create signals for UX on desktops in the future? We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
For more on the mobile friendly update, see our mobile friendly checklist.