We now know that one of the search ranking factors of Google is page speed. But how we use this information and how we can optimize our website for better ranking has long been a heated discussion in SEO circles. Today I’m listing out 3 types of website speed you need to look out for when optimizing your website and how to leverage them in order to get the most out fo Google search results.
Long gone are the days when internet speeds were slow and users had the patience to wait in front of a loading website. Now, everything has to move as fast as it possibly can, or else your website will simply not be accessed. And if users can figure this one out, you can bet Google already has rules for it.
On the “How search algorithms work” page, Google explicitly states that “We develop algorithms to promote more usable pages over less usable ones, all other things being equal. These algorithms analyze signals that indicate whether all our users are able to view the result, like… whether the page loading times work well for users with slow Internet connections.” This simply means that they will prioritize a faster website in front of yours in the search results, possibly making a big dent in your online visibility.
The solution is to pay attention to your speed. I’m here to help with 3 types of speed you should check and improve on your website:
- Site and page speed – this seems like a no-brainer, since one of the first things clients tend to ask when I’m building a website is “Will it load fast?”. That’s probably because page speed is one of the leading online buying factors these days, with studies showing 79% of online shoppers will never buy again from a store that has provided a bad experience. One way you can vastly improve your site speed is by compressing images. Use tinypng.com for example, and resize your photos without loosing image quality.
- Content surfing speed – sometimes it’s not about loading speeds, but about how fast users find content on your website. Having relevant content is a must, especially when you want Google to boost your results in front of your competitors. But how fast your readers will find said content is a totally different matter. Try clearing out the clutter and provide your information in a very structured way. It’s not just your users who love lists, but search bots as well 🙂
- Mobile speed – more and more users surf the web via mobile devices, so naturally we should think about how our website loads on phones and tablets. Responsive websites have been a staple of the new age of the internet, with faster loading times based on specific css rules. But for website who need something more, now there is AMP. Accelerated Mobile Pages is an accessible open-source framework that helps build faster pages for mobile users. It’s not for everyone and maybe not for all the pages in your website, but it’s definitely something you should check out if you want to maximize your mobile presence.
Do you know any other speeds we should keep in mind when it comes to optimizing our website?
