The Speed Update & Google’s Ongoing Need for Speed

After talking about it for eight years, Google officially started using pagespeed as a ranking factor in mobile searches in July of 2018. The ‘Speed Update,‘ as it is called by Google, applies to mobile sites only and is set to have its biggest impact on the web’s slowest mobile pages. The update will also use the same standards to analyze all mobile sites, regardless of the type of technology used to build it (for example, an AMP versus a responsive site).

What does this mean?

If a site’s mobile content loads quickly (under 3 seconds), Google will give it a tiny boost on mobile SERPs. And while a boost from Google is always a good thing, the Speed Update is geared at penalizing sluggish sites by ranking them lower on mobile searches. Google itself said that the update will only affect “a small number of queries,” but its implications are far-reaching because it can be looked at as a type of bottom line for pagespeed on mobile sites. 

Google’s speed mission

Google is, and has been for nearly a decade, both a pioneer and a champion in the realm of pagespeed. On little more than a hunch that site speed affected engagement, the search engine giant began conducting a series of tests back in 2009 to confirm their suspicions. Initial results revealed that longer loading times led to a decline in web searches; additional data revealed a direct correlation between site speed and operating costs. Consequently, Google made the decision to use site speed as a ranking signal in its search algorithms, beginning in 2010.

Google also kept an eye on mobile pagespeed. In 2013, amidst announcing new negative ranking factors for mobile sites, Google also mentioned the possibility of introducing speed-related mobile ranking factors in the future. Five years later (after careful planning, Mobilegeddon(s), and a series of ‘progress reports’ between 2015 and 2018), the Speed Update was finally released in July of this year.

Google PageSpeed

Upon discovering the measurable connection between site speed and business, Google also began developing a series of best practices for web performance as well as tools to help websites comply with them. First, Google introduced an open source library that automatically applied filters to pages and assets (PageSpeed Module, 2010). Next, they added a tool that analyzes and scores a site’s speed and performance (PageSpeed Insights, 2015). Two additional products, a way to access all metrics directly from Google Chrome (PageSpeed Chrome Extension) and a commercial site performance optimization service (PageSpeed Service), are now defunct.

This set of tools, collectively known as Google PageSpeed, created and raised the bar for better website performance. And while Google’s actual system for measuring pagespeed remains shrouded in mystery, our best bet to win the site speed game is by using the search giant’s standards to measure a site’s performance.

The bigger picture: speed equals revenue…

In the years that have passed since conducting its first tests, Google has taken full advantage of the opportunity to further highlight the clear correlation between pagespeed and business, including a January 2018 analysis of 11 million mobile ads on landing pages across 213 countries. Current results show that while mobile accounts for the majority of web traffic, desktop still boasts higher conversion rates. The reason? The average desktop site has faster pagespeed.

To put things in Google’s own words: “speed equals revenue.” Time and time again, statistics show that faster pagespeed leads to longer engagement, higher conversion rates, and increased revenue.

For example:

• 53% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.
• 10% of conversions are lost for every second it takes to load content on a small business website.

The mobile majority By now, you should already know that the mobile market is massive –– and it’s only getting bigger. In fact, mobile users are on track to account for ⅔ of all internet traffic by the end of 2018. And if you don’t know what that means for pagespeed, consider these stats:

• Over 40% of all online transactions occur on mobile devices. Of that number, 51% of customers say that pagespeed is the top reason for making or canceling a transaction.
• As mobile page load times go from 1 to 10 seconds, bounce rates increase by a staggering 123%. The average time it takes a mobile page to fully load is 15 seconds.

Given the percentage of mobile internet users, we believe that mobile pagespeed optimization should be mandatory from here on out. Slower mobile site speed might have been tolerable in the past, but it was due to a primary focus of engagement on desktop sites. We now live in a world of the ‘mobile majority,’ in which we’ve only just begun to take on a ‘mobile-first’ point of view. From that perspective, it only makes sense that mobile sites should be the fastest sites. And as mobile usage rates continue to rise, slower mobile sites will become less and less tolerable… until they go the way of dial-up internet.

Nsite Tech Studios: first in line for speed

NTS was one the first web design platform to tackle the issue of pagespeed head on. In 2017, we re-engineered our entire platform to ensure all websites built on the platform were fully optimized for pagespeed on both desktop and mobile, and successfully tested our new pagespeed optimization service with our partners. We can proudly say that within 30 seconds of being published, all sites hosted on the NTS Platform are automatically optimized to score high on the Google PageSpeed test. 

Reason #6: Websites tell stories

Every business has a story to tell. Perhaps it’s an inspiring tale of a beloved local business that has been the bedrock of a community for 30 years. Maybe the story is an underlying brand message (i.e. “Just do it”) that your client wants to deliver in every part of their SMB. With a website, you have the power to tell it through specially-curated designs and content.

Now is the Time!!!!!

This is amazing news that you need to capitalize on. The time is now to take advantage of these Google updates. You have an opportunity to help your business by getting your site on the most state of the art solution available. You should take advantage of these times they are truly special.