How long does it take your website to load on a mobile device? Google recently announced that starting in July, page speed from mobile devices will be a factor in its search rankings.
Google says the update will likely only impact the slowest sites on the web. About 70 percent of websites take about 7 seconds to load on a mobile device, according to Google’s research from 2017. But users often expect it to load within 2 or 3 seconds.
Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to check the load times and speed of your web pages. Google will also give you tips on how to improve your page speed.
Jayson DeMers, a columnist for Forbes.com, says that most sites likely won’t be affected by Google’s new page speed update. But still, he encourages firms to take the opportunity to analyze and improve their site speed for the sake of greater visitor retention and brand reputation. Most users expect a site to load within 2 seconds and may abandon your site if takes more than 3 seconds to load, DeMers cautions.
To improve your site’s speed, DeMers recommends making sure it’s optimized for mobile by
using a responsive design. He also recommends getting a good caching plugin to help your site load faster for subsequent visitors. Minimize image and video sizes and remove any unnecessary files. “The smaller and more efficient your website is, the faster it will load,” DeMers says.
Source: “Will Google’s New Page Speed Criteria Affect Your Site?” Forbes.com (Jan. 29, 2018)
