Loading Time Can Affect Serps

[dotker]

So loading time can affect SERPS now?

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Using site speed in web search ranking

I find this a really good thing as it helps the web save some bandwidth & time. I really hate slow loading sites.

 

[sonicadam123]

i heard about that, it's pretty cool

my only question is will it mean that google penalise people for using Analytics/Adsense etc as there code notoriously slows down sites

and that would be a bit of a kick in the teeth

 

[enlytend]

Those of us who keep track of that sort of thing have known that was in the works since late last year - Google did practically everything but take out a Superbowl ad announcing it.

my only question is will it mean that google penalise people for using Analytics/Adsense etc as there code notoriously slows down sites

Analytics won't do much harm as that loads after the rest of the page anyway. One block of Adsense probably won't affect you much either. Maxing out your adsense? That may be another story...

From the blog post:

While site speed is a new signal, it doesn't carry as much weight as the relevance of a page. Currently, fewer than 1% of search queries are affected by the site speed signal in our implementation

So yeah, don't load your pages with a lot of **** but relevance is still more important. And if your competitor's pages load lightening-fast, you have work to do.

 

[digital29]

Many webmasters are mad about this decision..but I personally like it.
I always make my blogs load faster than 3-4 seconds..so I don`t think I`ll have any problem

 

[whitebark]

It does favour those who can afford their own servers vs those who must rely on shared servers. That's not very friendly of google!

 

[enlytend]

It does favour those who can afford their own servers vs those who must rely on shared servers. That's not very friendly of google!

Especially if it's a shared hosting plan that doesn't support mod_gzip or mod_deflate (many shared plans don't - because of the additional load it puts on the server).

 

[Mesa SEO Solutions]

This could be a game changer in the industry as a whole. This will separate the true SEO's from the SINO (SEO In Name Only)crowd.

 

[franky123]

So loading time can affect SERPS now?

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Using site speed in web search ranking

I find this a really good thing as it helps the web save some bandwidth & time. I really hate slow loading sites.

Thanks to share link with us. I think, loading time affect SERPS is hidden point and most of the webmasters are not familiar with it.

 

[enlytend]

This could be a game changer in the industry as a whole. This will separate the true SEO's from the SINO (SEO In Name Only)crowd.

Hah! You mean the "I wrote description and keyword metas, stuffed a bunch of keywords in my sh**ty wikipedia-redux content and got 1000 spammy directory/blog/forum links" crowd :D? The ones who live and die by TBPR? The ones who couldn't name 3 bona-fide leaders in the industry if you let them google it?

IMO, Unfortunately not all that much, but every little bit helps.

 

[Mesa SEO Solutions]

Well, I downloaded Firebug and ran a speed check on my site and found the answers were great if you are a coder. Fixing these problems will be difficult for those without coding experience. It is not as simple as renaming a tag.

 

[mekongtours]

I think it is necessary, if the site works slowly, no one can be expected, it looks like the update, it should be fast and flexible.

 

[sonicadam123]

I do think it's a good thing for me.. but that's because according to google my site loads faster than 86% of sites, guess that's alright lol! seems like an extra reason not to use flash sites.

Thanks to share link with us. I think, loading time affect SERPS is hidden point and most of the webmasters are not familiar with it.

I wouldn't say it's hidden

it's just new .. word will get round .. especially if webmasters subscribe to Google's webmaster blog

 

[enlytend]

Well, I downloaded Firebug and ran a speed check on my site and found the answers were great if you are a coder. Fixing these problems will be difficult for those without coding experience. It is not as simple as renaming a tag.

It isn't TOO bad - most sites I've looked at, it seems to come down mainly to compression, cache, and optimizing javascript/css/images.

Code on most of my sites (not counting old ones that I plan to rework ... someday ...) was pretty well optimized to begin with. When they first started talking about it I went around and minified all my javascript files and moved as many as possible to the end of the source code. Still need to clean up cacheing on a bunch of my sites. That's one of those things I don't like to implement while I'm still making a lot of changes because it's a nuisance during testing, but then once the site's up and running it tends to get forgotten. Another thing to add to my checklist.

Compression won't be an option for many sites that are on shared hosts - most of them are reluctant to implement it because it takes up a lot of system resources. You can do it if you're on a dedicated or a VPS, but then those platforms are faster to begin with.

 

[Mesa SEO Solutions]

It isn't TOO bad - most sites I've looked at, it seems to come down mainly to compression, cache, and optimizing javascript/css/images.

Code on most of my sites (not counting old ones that I plan to rework ... someday ...) was pretty well optimized to begin with. When they first started talking about it I went around and minified all my javascript files and moved as many as possible to the end of the source code. Still need to clean up cacheing on a bunch of my sites. That's one of those things I don't like to implement while I'm still making a lot of changes because it's a nuisance during testing, but then once the site's up and running it tends to get forgotten. Another thing to add to my checklist.

Compression won't be an option for many sites that are on shared hosts - most of them are reluctant to implement it because it takes up a lot of system resources. You can do it if you're on a dedicated or a VPS, but then those platforms are faster to begin with.

Your points are very well taken here. As I see it these are not items that most website owners are going to be able to handle themselves. This could cause problems for many.

 

[hazelg]

This is one feature that we should consider now because of Google caffeine.

 

[Mesa SEO Solutions]

This is one feature that we should consider now because of Google caffeine.

This is one part of SEO that should be considered not because of Caffeine but because Google says its important. It will also provide lots to talk about... Yea, something new.

 

[72Reasons]

I just heard about this and I started looking into it and I got very confused. It will require more than simply changing some tags.

 

[sonicadam123]

apparently it affects around 1% of websites? not sure how true this is

but it will become more important as time goes on

 

[duia]

For the long run, it is really a necessity to regard loading time as a factor of SERP.
Loading time has a side effect on one site. You see, if visitors need much time to open one site, it is obvious that this site can't leave a good impression on these visitors.

 

[ePag]

A page should lost fast and provide the information the user wants faster!

I have to agree that sites that load slow should lose their SERP's in favor of sites that load faster and with better content.