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Associate Manager, SEO

Google's Site Speed Update Has Officially Started to Roll Out

According to Google, 53% of consumers will wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a mobile website. As more and more users turn to their mobile devices for search, Google has started to place greater emphasis on mobile sites. This includes improving mobile experience and mobile site speed, as both are ranking factors for SEO.

On July 9th, 2018, Google officially launched the roll out of the PageSpeed update, a change that has been anticipated since it was first announced in January 2018.

Google Tweeted, “The Speed Update, which enables page speed in mobile search ranking, is now rolling out for all users!”

Google published a blog post to confirm titled “Update July 9, 2018: The Speed Update is now rolling out for all users”

What This Means for Marketers

Here is what marketers should know about the update:

  • Mobile rankings are likely to remain consistent if a site already complies with recommended mobile load time (<2 seconds).
  • The update will only impact rankings and performance of pages with especially slow load times.
  • The update is only expected to affect a small percentage of queries conducted on mobile devices.
  • Small site speed improvements can make a big difference for a site’s ranking potential and should be prioritized.
  • If a site experiences an increase in mobile organic traffic, it could mean that competitor sites have been negatively impacted by this update.
 

What Sites Should be Prioritizing

1. Check Site for Update Readiness
Rise has a standardized process to track mobile ranking performance and test for the following high-level PageSpeed benchmarks: Speed Index <5,000ms and Mobile Load Time < 2 Seconds.

2. Publish Relevant Content
Mobile sites with the most relevant content will obtain the best rankings in search results, as Google will still favor relevant content over PageSpeed.

3. Prioritize User Experience & Design
In parallel with PageSpeed, Google recommends integrating user experience metrics into web development projects such as site redesigns and new template designs.

To learn more about what this means for your brand and how Rise can help, contact the Rise Interactive digital strategy team.

To learn more about Google’s Mobile Friendliness Criteria: What Does Google's New Mobile-Friendly Update Mean for Your SEO?

07/19/2018 at 01:21