Quick! Google’s changing its algorithm for mobile

The change will come into effect in July 2018 and means page loading speed will now be a ranking factor for mobile searches – if your pages don’t load quickly they’ll slip and slide down the rankings. Bad times.

But hold up. As Google has already been ranking desktop searches based on page speed since 2010, your webpages should already be optimised for this, right? Good point, however, why take the risk?

Fast page loading speeds creates a better user experience and therefore results in better engagement with your content and more conversions from users. So, it’s a good idea to review your mobile page speed well before the update.

Developers can test page speed through tools such as Google’s own PageSpeed Insights, Chrome User Experience, or Lighthouse. The good news is if you find your pages are a bit sluggish there’s a bunch of stuff you can do to speed ‘em up:

• Minify CSS and JavaScript
• Consider using Accelerated Mobile Pages
• Use GZIP to compress code files before uploading to save bandwidth
• Compressing images before using them on the web will reduce file size
• Concentrate content above the fold, that way your site won’t be trying to load lots of content all at once
• Make use of multiplexing on http2 to load assets in sequence rather than all at once

If you’d like some help optimising your website or landing pages to load quickly quick get in touch with Ian Reeves – e: [email protected] t: 0117 317 7629. He knows his onions (and all things digital) and will be happy to help.