What is Google Portals and How to Use it For a Better User Experience
October 17, 2023
Prashant Shukla
What has been updated from the old blog: This blog post now talks about the transition from traditional iframes to Google Portals helped in transforming the user experience.
Summary: In this blog, we’ll explore Google Portals, understand their main idea, discover their benefits, and see how they impact SEO. We’ll also look at their cool features, like seamless transitions, faster loading, and improved security, making Google Portals a game-changer in web browsing.
In May 2019, Google introduced a groundbreaking innovation in web navigation – Google Portals. These Portals offer a novel approach to browsing, addressing some of the longstanding challenges associated with traditional web page navigation.
User experience has always been a pivotal aspect of web development, and with the introduction of Google Portals, this experience has been taken to another level.
This blog post aims to delve into explaining the concept behind this navigation update, exploring its functionality, features, and the significant benefits it brings to the user experience.
What is Google Portals?
Google Portals are designed to allow users to navigate within the content they embed, a capability that sets them apart from iframes, which often have security limitations that restrict such interactions. Furthermore, Portals by google play a critical role in overwriting the URL address bar, essentially transforming them into a navigation system rather than just a means of embedding content.
Portals are only supported in the latest version of Chrome Canary for Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS.
How Google Portals Work
Google Portals represent an evolution of the iframe technology, providing a fresh approach to loading and navigating web pages. Similar to traditional iframe tags, Portals employ a new HTML tag, `<portal>`, which enables web developers to embed remote content seamlessly into their web pages. Portals are similar to iframes, but they allow users to navigate inside the content they are embedding. Furthermore, portals can also overwrite the main URL address bar, making them useful as a navigation system.
Portals offer the best of both worlds: the low complexity of an MPA (Multi-page applications) with the seamless transitions of an SPA (Single-page applications). They allow for embedding, but unlike iframes, they also come with features to navigate to their content. Portals can be used in cross-origin navigations.
Key Benefits of Google Portals
So far we know Google Portals provide a seamless and faster browsing experience, reducing waiting times and keeping users engaged with interactive content. This enhances the overall user experience.
1. Seamless Transitions: Portals ensure that users experience smooth transitions between web pages, eliminating the annoying blank screens commonly associated with page loading.
2. Faster Page Loading: Compared to conventional web navigation, Portals significantly reduce page load times, ensuring that users access content more quickly.
3. Increased Security and Privacy: Portals protect against potential phishing attacks by changing the URL bar without requiring users to open a new popup window or tab.
Some concerns regarding Google Portals
Despite their many advantages, Google Portals are not without any concerns. These concerns include heavy data usage and potential difficulties with backward transitions to the parent page.
Why Google Portals is a Necessity
In the past, iframe technology faced numerous issues, from security vulnerabilities to slow loading times and limited support for cookies. Google engineers recognized the need for an upgrade to address these challenges. The goal is for Google Portals to become the standard method by which websites transition between links, enhancing the overall web experience.
Want to build Google Portals? Follow these steps to build your portal.
Differentiating Google Portals from iFrames
Yes, the update happened. But how is it better than the previous version?
Google Portals present a range of notable differences when compared to traditional iframes. These distinctions encompass aspects like how they are created, their navigational capabilities, content preloading, and more. Let’s discuss further into these divergences.
| Criteria |
Google Portals |
iFrames |
| Creation Method |
“< portal src= “…” >< /portal >” |
“< iframe src= “…” >< /iframe >” |
| Navigational Capabilities |
Can be navigated into |
Not navigable |
| Embeddable |
Yes |
Yes |
| Browsing Context |
Always top-level |
Nested within a tree |
| Communication |
Uses postMessage for communication |
Accessed via WindowProxy |
| Content Preloading |
Content can be preloaded while scrolling |
Content loads traditionally upon rendering |
| URL Bar Overwrite |
Can overwrite the URL address bar |
Does not overwrite the URL address bar |
| Speed and Performance |
Contributes to faster page loading |
Loading can be slower, impacting performance |
| Phishing Protection |
Offers phishing protection by changing URL bar |
May not provide the same level of protection |
| Mobile Responsiveness |
Supports mobile responsiveness |
Requires additional mobile optimization |
Relationship Between SEO and User Experience While Using Portals
Now that we know that the updated feature has navigational ability, it brings about numerous advantages that positively impact both user experience (UX) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Let’s delve into how these innovative features of Google Portals enhance the overall performance and success of websites:
1. Improved User Experience
Seamless Transitions: Google Portals enable seamless transitions between web pages. When a user clicks on a link or interacts with content embedded within a Portal, they experience a fluid and uninterrupted journey. This seamless navigation significantly enhances the overall user experience.
Faster Page Loading: Portals contribute to faster page loading times. Users no longer need to wait for the entire page to reload; instead, content within Portals preloads, reducing waiting times and improving the user experience.
Engagement and Interactivity: Users can interact with embedded content within Portals without the need for back-and-forth page loading. This interactivity keeps users engaged and satisfied with the website’s content and functionality.
Mobile Optimization: Google Portals are designed to be mobile-responsive, ensuring a consistent and optimized experience across various devices. Mobile users benefit from faster loading times and a smoother journey, enhancing their experience.
2. SEO Enhancement
Reduced Bounce Rates: The improved user experience resulting from Portals often leads to reduced bounce rates. Users are more likely to stay on the website, explore multiple pages, and engage with content. Lower bounce rates are a positive signal for search engines, potentially boosting SEO rankings
Increased Dwell Time: Users spending more time on a website, thanks to enhanced UX, can positively impact SEO. Dwell time, which refers to the duration users spend on a page, is a metric search engines consider when evaluating a website’s quality and relevance.
Mobile-Friendly Design: Google’s mobile-first indexing prioritizes mobile-friendly websites. Portals’ mobile optimization ensures that websites are in line with Google’s preferences, potentially leading to better search engine rankings.
Content Accessibility: The accessibility features within Portals allow a broader audience to engage with the content. Accessibility not only fosters inclusivity but also aligns with SEO best practices by reaching a wider demographic.
In the end, we can say that Google Portals are a valuable addition to website development, offering a range of benefits that improve the overall user experience and contribute to enhanced SEO. They provide seamless transitions, faster page loading, and increased user engagement, which, in turn, lead to reduced bounce rates, longer dwell times, and mobile-friendliness.
These advantages have a cumulative effect on the website’s success, making Google Portals a valuable tool for web developers and content creators looking to optimize both user experience and SEO performance.