PageSpeed Is Difficult Says Google

This is an extract from TWIS SEO Update 2nd June 2017.

You can read actionable insights on the effects of PageSpeed being difficult in this post. If you would like to discuss ways this may impact your web business, please feel free to contact me.

#SEO #PageSpeed #MobileFirst #TechnicalSEO

Summary:

• A small Twitter discussion revealed that Google (and AMP) struggle with identifying fast pages more than they struggle to identify a slow page.
• Fast pages are usually consistently fast, but are they fast for everyone? (False positive).
• Slow pages tend to be consistently slow. If not caused by routing / congestion, they are usually caused by bloated code or processes, which affect every user.
• Google is not planning on including page speed initially in its upcoming Mobile First Index.

How to measure and improve PageSpeed:

1. Keep on checking PageSpeed using the Google tools.
2. Remember PageSpeed is relative to the competition.
3. Compare load speed of your critical pages versus your ranking competitors in this space.
4. Improve your PageSpeed until you are faster than the competition. Work to remove blockages caused by bloating and use good CDNs to cache and deliver content.
5. Remember that PageSpeed is still currently applied as a factor post-relevance. Improve your content as well.
6. Contact me if you would like to review your PageSpeed and design solutions to beat the competition.

Discussion:

Speed, speed, speed. The world is a fast place and the mobile-first world is a faster one. There is a lot of hype around page speed, mostly justified, but some not. Don’t forget that having websites load faster benefits Google as it provides its users with a better experience, and encourages them to search Google and see their ads again.

The key thing to remember with page speed is that it is currently relative to the results set overall. There is not yet a minimum speed bar to step over before being considered (aside from not managing to load / timing out, obviously).  You need to be faster than the competition – who will also be working on their speed. If speed were a primary determinant of ranking, we would all be hosting out of the data centres near to the IP addresses which  Googlebot resolves to – that’s pretty much the way the internet works.

More info:

• H/T SE Roundtable
• Paul Bakaus Tweet

Return to Top

We recently released the super-exciting The State of SEO in mid-2017. Read it now.

Return to Top

• Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.
• PageSpeed is tougher to determine for a fast website than a quick one.
• Be faster than your competition.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.

Return to Top