The speed of the mobile web pages matters more than ever. Online businesses, brands and digital marketing services in the USA should speed up their website to secure high ranking. Earlier in January 2018, Google announced the update about its search algorithm beginning in July. It alerted developers and webmasters to speed up their websites as load time would be the next ranking factor for mobile devices.
With the progressive advancement in technology, the digital world is heading furiously towards a mobile-first approach, so the Google Speed Update. The Speed update makes the speed of a site a search engine ranking factor. Started rolling out on July 9, the search engine giant declares that your future depends upon how fast your pages load on mobile devices. URLs that take too much time to load will drop mobile ranking of their websites. This step by the Google will provide the optimal user experience.Web Analytics: Everything You Need to Know.
Wasn’t load time the ranking factor for several years?
It was. Load time is not the new ranking factor. Since 2009, Google made the page speed a ranking indicator for desktop websites. But, the search engine did not roll it out as a ranking factor for mobile and web development services sites. Since July 2018, load time will be a ranking factor for mobile searches.
Google says that this update does not affect pages that give the slowest loading experience to users. It also mentions that a higher percentage of queries will remain intact due to this change. Pages with high-quality content can still rank higher after the update
Why do marketers need to get conscious about speed?
Make your pages as fast as possible. Slow speed cannot only lower your ranking but also cut off your revenue. There are many stats by Google emphasizing the mobile-first approach, telling marketers to review their strategies.
- Most of the users load web pages over 3G and 4G connections.
- 53% of mobile users leave a web page which takes more than three seconds of load time.
- “15 seconds” is the average load time of mobile websites, which is 7 seconds speedy than 2017.
- 70% web pages take more than 5 seconds to show entire visual content.
- A delay of 1 second can drop down your conversion rate by 20%.
How can you avoid penalties for a slow website?
Google said that Speed Update would harm a few websites and queries, but you should take steps to avoid penalties. Take your site speed test to analyze where improvements are required.
Several tools are available to test the speed and metrics. Being an administrator of the website is not required to use these tools. So, you can also use them to check the status of your competitors.
Speed Test Tools
Here is the list of tools you can use to test your mobile site:
• Chrome User Experience Report
• Lighthouse
• Page insights
• Testmysite
• Dareboost
These steps can help you to speed up your mobile websites following the updated algorithm.
Switch to AMP for Key URLs
An Accelerated Mobile Page provides a superfast user-experience. They lessen the page load time to 85%. Use AMP to create mobile-friendly websites giving the high experience.
Compress Your File Size
Small files are fast to load. Use “gzip” or your favorite compression tool to reduce the size of the code. This reduced file size will ultimately give a fast speed.
Reduce Server Response Time
Server response time is one of the critical reasons for slow page-load time. Reduce the DNS lookup time and use current resources efficiently to reduce server response time.
Bottom Line
A slow website doesn’t only frustrate your visitors but also limits the opportunities. It decreases your revenue, organic traffic, and even SERP ranking after the latest algorithm update by Google.
You still have time to induce changes to lessen the page load time. Take the necessary steps to make your mobile website fast to sustain your search engine rating. Fast web pages will help you to increase the organic traffic, boost revenue and enhance brand image.
IPS USA is one of the best digital marketing services in the USA offering customer-focused solutions. We help clients exploit those promotional channels that support them outrank their competition.
