Site Speed and SEO- How does it affect search rankings?
Google has admitted to valuing site loading speed. While they did not directly say it affects search rankings, they did say are aimed at a quicker internet in this blog post. They released an extremely helpful tool found here that allows users to simply enter their site’s url and Google in turn offers suggestions on how to improve site speed. Sometime in the year 2018, Google will most certainly factor mobile loading speed into your site’s SEO score.
A Factor In Search Rankings
While not a major ranking factor used by Google (Google uses over 200 factors), it is still an important aspect in user experience which is vital in web success. Additionally, it is known that mobile sites are indeed penalized for slower loading times. Remember that the mobile audience is a generally makes up the majority of site traffic.
Speed Is Essential in E-Commerce
The American culture of “must have it now” is well exemplified on the web. Google found that delaying search results for less than half a second actually resulted in fewer searches performed. More than 50% of online shoppers say that slow site speed will drive them to a competitor’s site. Radware also found that a two second load time resulted in an abandonment rate up to 87%!
What’s The Hold Up?
Many things can create long loading times. Fortunately, most are easy to prevent and fix- especially if you have a wordpress site.
- Images are not optimized- Image files are too large creating long loading times. Our team ensures that images are optimized before site build. If the site is already built, we are still able to web optimize current pictures. Moreover, our graphic designer creates high quality images that are still web optimized.
- Too much (unneeded content)-Linking to unused css files or failing to deactivate plugins are surefire ways to lower your site loading speed.
- Javascript, HTML, and CSS are not simplified- Code should be simple and direct in whatever mission it aims to accomplish. Duplicate code and code that isn’t condensed slows site speed. Innovative solutions builds sites with optimized code to begin with. We are also able to quickly clean up code on currently active websites.
Leverage browser caching- Caching content allows browsers to load already downloaded content making for shorter load times.
- Consider gzip compression- In short, if your site uses gzip compression, it is packaging your website in a nice folder and is delivered to the end user. Their browser unzips your webpage.
It can be overwhelming keeping up with site speed commands. Remember that it is incredibly difficult to reach 100% in Google’s site speed analysis tool (Facebook doesn’t!). As the internet grows, the demand for quicker loading time expands. Innovative Solutions can help your site speed and SEO score. Contact us today!
