Google to Begin Using Mobile Site Speed Consideration as a Ranking Factor

Google has informed webmasters via a blog post that an upcoming changing the Google Search algorithm will take mobile site speed into consideration for page ranking.  Referring to it as the “Speed Update”, starting in July 2018, sites that have slow response times will have that factored into their overall search results within Google Search.

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.

However, mobile site speed is not the only consideration in page ranking nor will it be the only factor come July.

Indeed, Google makes it clear in the post that great, relevant content is still the critical factor when it comes to page ranking and even if a mobile site is slow, it could still be high on the page rank because of that solid content.

ClintonFitch.com Mobile Site

ClintonFitch.com Mobile Site

So what does this mean for end users?  It means that websites like ClintonFitch.com have to take the speed of their sites into consideration not just for the desktop – where it has been a factor for some time – but also for their mobile site.  Really, isn’t that big of a change as webmasters have already been working on speed performance for the most part.  This optimization for mobile as well as desktop is a continual effort for me on this site and this news won’t be changing much for the day-to-day.

 

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