Performance – WS1

Google Lighthouse information and what to do in related inbound call scenarios.

What’s changing?

Google is updating their algorithm to emphasize page experience signals in Google search ranking. The new page experience signals combine Core Web Vitals with existing search signals, including mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS-security, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. Detailed description of each area is below:

Core Web Vitals: We will have design best practices, quality metrics, and features that are tailored to improve the core web vitals (New!)
Mobile friendliness: We build a website that is mobile friendly (we do now)
Safe-Browsing: We build on the GoDaddy Managed WordPress platform which scans for malware, making sure that customers have visibility (we do now)
HTTPS: Once a website is published on the customer's domain, we automatically make sure that HTTPS is installed (we do now)

Intrusive Interstitial Guidelines: We follow best practices to adhere to these guidelines (we do now)

Why is this update important to my website?

When is Google rolling out this update?

Starting in mid-June through August

Do you have an exact date? We don’t have an exact date because this is rolling out in phases over the next few months.
Where can I find more information about this?
Great question! We sent you an email with some resources, and that’s a good place to start. Internal Note: Customer emails are scheduled to go out mid-late June.

- I can also send you this link that has more information: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/more-details-page-experience#gradual-rollout

How can I test my website’s performance? Is this free?

Google Lighthouse is an auditing tool that helps provide suggested improvements to the quality of your website performance or core vitals. It measures things like page speed, stability, website security and mobile friendliness.

Google Lighthouse is free. You can test your website at any time by using this link: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ We recommend you check that you have the latest version of Google Chrome prior to running a test.

When the audit is complete, you’ll get a list of recommendations on how to improve your website (also known as the Core Vitals of your site). The list is broken down by level of impact:
Anything in green is good, the page is healthy. No updates needed and this is the main score we want your overall website to achieve.
Anything in yellow means you should take a second look.
Anything in red means there’s a problem that needs immediate attention.
Keep in mind that the scores will vary based on many factors, but it’s merely meant to show you ways you can enhance your website’s performance and improve how it is searched and ranked on Google.
As updates are made to your website, your performance score will change, and this can impact search engine rankings.
If a customer calls in about performance score changes (whether they’ve improved or declined), please refer to scenarios below in how we can best support them.

How do these changes impact how my website is found or ranked on other search engines (like Bing, etc.)?

Good question! We know each search engine has their own algorithm in how websites are searched and ranked by visitors; however, Google is the top used and most recommended search engine across the internet (on mobile and desktop devices).

GoDaddy is a top expert in website design practices, and you can count on us to stay on top of these trends that impact our customers, like you.
We understand each search engine is different, but Google has greatly influenced the way most sites are designed today, and they continue to raise the bar on ways to improve it, and we want to make sure you’re fully aware of how this update impacts your website on their platform.
Your website can still be found using other search engines, but the search rankings and performance will vary.
- Know that our main goal is to design every website to perform competitively as possible, regardless of the users search engine choice.

If a customer calls in about one of the following scenarios:

I received an email about Google update – what does this mean? How does this impact my website?

Resource: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

GoDaddy’s Website Design Services specializes in creating optimized, mobile-friendly websites that meet Google’s standards for performance.

I’m a DIY (non-Care) customer and my website is live/published. I received an email about Google update, and I would like help with getting my website optimized. Is that something you all can help me with?

In the email we sent out, you’ll find some info about how you can run a report on your site. That report will tell you everything that might need to change.
- If you decide that you’d rather we do this for you, we do have a service for that.
- To do this yourself, we’ve included it in the email, which links out to an article with step-by-step instructions. Link to article: https://www.godaddy.com/garage/google-search-changes/

I’m a DIFY (non-Care) customer, and my website is live/published. I received an email about Google update — is there something else I need to do? How do I get my website optimized for this change?

In the email we sent out, you’ll find some info about how you can run a report on your site. That report will tell you everything that might need to change.
- If you’d like us to do this for you, we have a service that’s an extension of the team that built your website. Is that something you’d like more information about?
- If you’d like to do this yourself, we’ve included it in the email, which links out to an article with step-by-step instructions. Link to article: https://www.godaddy.com/garage/google-search-changes/

I’m a DIFY (Care) customer. I received an email about Google update — is there something I need to do? How does this impact me? How do I get help on this?

Our team has your back. With’s Google’s new update, we’ll be checking your website and ensuring your site meets the new performance guidelines. If there’s changes to be made, we’ll take care of those for you, too.

I ran the Google test on my website, and I saw that my score card/report had a lot of red/yellow, can GoDaddy WDS help me?

Yes! We can help. If you’re seeing a lot of yellow and red, that means there’s some opportunity for change. [intro Care]
- If this is a DIY Managed WordPress site customer, it would be best for them to be routed to sales team to see if they qualify.
  - Internal Note: In some cases, a new website design will be recommended.

Important Note: “Website Care” is in the process of being renamed to “Marketing Services” while this Google update is rolling out. The renaming of Website Care is happening in phases, so you may see or hear the name still be referenced by customers (or internal teams). Therefore, if a customer calls in and self-identifies as a DIFY Website Care or “Marketing Services” customer, they’re referring to the same service. Customers as well as internal teams may use these nomenclatures interchangeably.