Since we have been writing our blog posts, we have made various references to page speed and the importance of it. We always stress this to our clients as everyone is well aware that a slow loading page has the ability to just simply turn people away from websites.
The page speed drive gains even more momentum later this year, as Google has announced that mobile page speed will now become a ranking factor from July 2018 onwards.
In the latest news that has been released, Google has stated that they will release a new ranking algorithm for searches done on a mobile platform. It is likely to be called something like ‘the speed update.’ Google have stated that this is not an Armageddon change like some of their previous updates – it is predicted to apply to only a small amount of pages, specifically those which “deliver the slowest experience to users.” Google have also caveated their advice by implying that this will still one be one ranking signal. Relevancy ranks very highly, and so a slow but highly relevant and authoritative page may still fair rather well and not be penalised.
There are plenty of tools online, including recently updated ones which focus on the speed of your mobile site. Some of these also offer suggestions and ways for improvement so you really don’t need to struggle with slow mobile pages.
If you have a good memory you may be aware that this is not a new concept as such. Back as long ago as 2010, Google pointed out that page speed was a factor in ranking, but the focus at that time was mainly related to desktop searches – probably because there was a greater portion of these verses mobile searches. We know that over the last few years this has changed and mobile search has gained a bigger traction on the market, probably down to the greater functionality of mobile devices. It is because of this that Google has been threatening to apply a speed update to mobiles, and it looks like 2018 will finally be the year this happens.
There is no need to panic just yet as there is still a bit of time. Most websites are already mobile friendly in all senses of the word and therefore this posting is nothing more than a ‘for your information only.’ However we are aware that there are still a number of websites who don’t recognise mobile factors – this must surely now change now before websites or rankings get potentially hit.
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