Site Speed-Important to Page Ranking in 2010?

Site Speed-Important to Page Ranking in 2010?

Is site speed going to be an important element to your page ranking in 2010? Possibly.

There has been a suggestion by Google's Matt Cutt's that "page speed" may become a ranking factor with Google. They (Google) want users to enjoy there search experience, and, speed is one way in which Google can improve the user's search experience.

Though many a webmaster may be grumbling about the "site speed" issue, I'm sure it's a done deal. As I always said, always be prepared for change on the Internet.

But for some, this change is going to take a little more doing-if you have video, images, or other elements that slow load time. So, where do you begin in determining your "site performance" for web page loading.


Site Performance Tools

Google suggests using their Webmaster tools to look at your "site performance". It's a chart that gives you a quick look of your site overall load time-and your site percentage performance against other sites. However, be sure to watch the load time over a period of time-to get the true average. And if you see some of your pages with high load times-those would probably be the pages to improve load time on.

In addition, they also provide you with a section that will give you suggestions on how to speed up your web page. The suggestions are based on Google's Page Speed Firefox/Firebug plug-in.


Some Final Thoughts

If, per Google, you want to improve user retention, increase revenue and lower costs, you should improve your site speed. I agree with Google on the retention and lower costs elements, but as to increase revenue, well- Let me explain these three elements to your online success.

Retention of users is a given, if you have quicker load time for your pages. Why? Most visitors are in a hurry. They are not willing to wait around to watch a web page load, instead they will click away and find the information elsewhere.

Lower costs. Quick load times does save on bandwidth- if you do have a lot of visitors.

The last element, increased revenue, will improve with quick load times. My answer to that is, possibly. Quick load time, in my opinion, will only keep your visitors there a few more seconds. If the quality of your content does not entice visitors to stay longer, or encourage them to buy- you're not going to see increased revenue.