Page speed will be a ranking factor for mobile search

News of a brand new Google algorithm update has just broke with the search engine confirming that page speed WILL be a mobile search ranking factor. This is absolutely critical information if you’ve just taken up a mobile app business opportunity – so read on to find out what this means, how it will work and how it will impact your new app business.

When?

Google has confirmed that from July 2018 it will use mobile page speed as a ranking factor for mobile search results. This new algorithm has been named ‘Speed Update’.

Who?

Google says that its brand new Speed Update will impact pages that deliver the slowest experiences to users. That means pages that take long seconds to load up on mobile.

Why?

Slow pages are annoying for mobile page users. The longer a page takes to load, the more likely it is that that user will bounce back to the search results and choose a different site. Google obviously doesn’t want this to happen and as a business, you shouldn’t either.

What can you do?

The very last thing you want as an app developer is to be found guilty of having web pages and content that isn’t optimised for a mobile device. Having a page that is slow to load on a smartphone or tablet not only means that you’re more likely to see your search engine rankings suffer, it also presents a very negative impression of your mobile app business.

The Speed Update algorithm won’t come into effect until July so you still have a good six months to bring any slow loading pages up to speed (quite literally).

Even if you consider your pages to be fast enough, today’s announcement from Google is a timely reminder that it’s worth checking at regular intervals.

Google says search intent is still a ranking factor so if your content is great then you can still rank well but, it’s wise not to rely on this. Do all you can now to optimise your page speed.

An easy way to check your mobile page loading speed and access advice for improvement is to use the revamped Google PageSpeed report. This will give your page a grade (fast, slow or average), an optimisation score and optimisation tips to help you bring slower pages up to spec.