Page speed has always been a hot topic. Google has constantly told us that sites need to load quickly for best user experience. Page Speed has also been a ranking factor, but, this has primarily been targeted for desktops websites.
Something’s about to change…
Starting in July 2018, Page Speed is now a ranking factor in mobile searches too. Which means website owners will have to work increasingly harder to make sure their sites load quickly on mobile devices.
Google are classing this as the ‘Speed Update‘ Mobile loading time is now more important than ever. Google has stated that the update will only impact ‘A small percentage’ of queries and target the ‘Slowest experience to users’. The intent of the search query is still a very strong signal, so a slow page may still rank highly if it has great, relevant content.
Here’s what Google’s Zhiheng Wang and Doantam Phan wrote:
The “Speed Update,” as we’re calling it, will only affect pages that deliver the slowest experience to users and will only affect a small percentage of queries. It applies the same standard to all pages, regardless of the technology used to build the page. The intent of the search query is still a very strong signal, so a slow page may still rank highly if it has great, relevant content.
The Speed update is there to improve search experience. These sort of mobile-focused changes to Google search will soon happen more, given that the majority of Google users today search the web via mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets.
Figures have shown that mobile has been more important than desktop for several years now, and its time for the search index itself to reflect that.
How well does your site perform?
