How Google's "Speed" Update Will Affect Mobile Rankings

During the middle of January, Google released information regarding what they are calling their "Speed" update. This will focus solely on mobile load speed and may impact how your website ranks. This algorithm will only impact a small percentage of queries. Google has announced that this update will take effect starting in July 2018

Google's Zhiheng Wang and Doantam Phan have said: 

"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. The intent of the search query is still a very strong signal, so a slow page may still rank highly if it has great, relevant content." 

They key point here is "the slowest experience to users". Whilst Google never openly explain just how their algorithms work in depth, this does provide a good indication as to which sites are likely to be affected. If your website is loading incredibly slowly, now would be the time to take action. 

Since this is completely algorithmic, there is no way for you to be able to check whether or not your site has been affected by this. This means even Google's search console won't provide any information in relation to your mobile site and the update. As such, testing and experimenting your mobile site is the best way to understand whether or not there any issues are present. 

With the update arriving in July, Webmasters still have time to take action and implement any changes they can to their mobile site. Even if your page is slow, it may still rank highly if the content is strong. If you are ranking highly for multiple pages it may also mean that this update does not affect you.

However, it would be worthwhile considering User Experience, even if there may not be implications (keyword being "maybe") increasing your mobile load speed can only be a benefit to those using the site. 

Google's "Speed" update does not come as a surprise. With the rise in mobile viewing and traffic, it's questionable as to whether this algorithm should've been in place a few years ago. Desktop speed has been a factor since 2010.

Google has commented that " this change is about the mobile search results" meaning that desktop and mobile page rankings will be independent of one another. In simple terms: Your mobile load speed should not affect your desktop ranking. 

Finally, Google mentioned in their update blog " We encourage developers to think broadly about how performance  affects a user’s experience of their page". Whilst the update primarily focuses on mobile, Google is still placing emphasis on user experience.

Content still remains an important factor in page rankings, but so does bounce rate and avg. time on page. After all, what metrics can you view in order to understand whether or not you have strong, relevant content?

If you are curious as to how your website layout and design affect your content marketing, we have covered this in a recent article here

Google has recommended that you use a variety of resources in order to evaluate a page's performance:

Whilst none of these will be able to inform you whether or not your website will be impacted by the new update, they are valuable resources that can provide you with ways to improve your website. 

It's easy to shrug these changes off without a second thought. After all, if you aren't in the lower bracket, surely these changes won't affect you? Right?

Google's own data has shown that a 3 second load time (something that is fairly common) can increase the bounce rate to up to 32%. 32% might not seem a lot, but considering that bounce rate can have a negative effect on organic SEO rankings, it should not be taken Lightly. 

Here's the data outline from Google's/SOASTA Research, 2017:

Statista data on worldwide traffic shows that mobile traffic accounts for just over half this year (51.89%).

Why is this information crucial?

Taking this data as a comparison point, over half of your website visitors are viewing via mobile. Without a focus on mobile load speed, you are essentially giving up on half of your overall traffic to the website. 

If you then look at that in the same method, you could be missing out on potentially double the sales (assuming that your load speed is in the lower bracket). Making some simple changes to your mobile site could have a dramatic impact on your profit margins. 

It's also important to note that making these changes won't cost you an arm or a leg. If you have a developer on hand, they should be able to complete any necessary changes in a matter of days, maybe less. 

If your website is outdated, this could be more troublesome. Similarly, if your website is not mobile responsive you will need to address that issue before your site speed. Having a mobile site that isn't responsive would likely be resulting in a higher bounce rate anyway. 

Ensure that your mobile site is responsive and loading at a quicker pace. This will put your business on the right track for better organic search results and overall, happy visitors. Both of which, will get your more traffic and an increase in conversion. 

Allocating additional money to solve the problem now, will generate more in the future. Making the investment can only net you positive results if done correctly.

Worried about your site speed? Think it could be having a negative effect on rankings? Email us at admin@devmac.co.uk to see how we can help.