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So you built a great website with lots of graphics, photos, animations and videos, but your SEO results have been disappointing. What gives?
It may be the fact that Americans are increasingly using their mobile devices to interact with companies, but those companies are still designing Web pages that are optimized for viewing on a desktop computer.
If your site isn’t mobile friendly and doesn’t load within seconds, potential customers are going to move on.
Three Seconds. Seriously. Three Seconds
A study conducted by Google entitled “The Need for Mobile Speed” found that 53 percent of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than three seconds to load. Unfortunately, average page view loading time is closer to 19 seconds. That’s a lot of would-be customers logging off and looking for something speedier.
The same study found that mobile sites that load in five seconds earn up to twice as much mobile ad revenue than those sites that took the average of 19 seconds to load. Another study by Aberdeen Group found that even a one-second delay in page-load time causes a drop in page views (11 percent), conversions (7 percent), and customer satisfaction (16 percent).
Simply put, a speedy mobile website leads to more revenue.
It’s Not Just About Speed, It’s About SEO Ranking
We’ve known that faster-loading pages rank higher on Google since 2010. The issue is about to become more urgent, however. Back in January, Google announced a new SEO ranking algorithm designed for mobile search. This “Speed Update,” which will significantly penalize slow-loading pages in SEO rankings, will go live in July 2018. Google has recommended that companies make use of its user experience tools to test their existing websites and apps for mobile usability.
A Single Test May Not Be Giving You the Full Picture
So you tested your website or your app, and it loaded in six seconds. No sweat, right? In reality, according to Google’s Philip Walton, your speed may not be your site’s real speed.
“Load times vary dramatically from user to user, depending on their device capabilities and network conditions,” he wrote. “Presenting load times as a single number ignores the users who experienced much longer loads. In reality, your app’s load time is the collection of all load times from every individual user.”
For this reason, you need a variety of metrics to measure the real performance of your mobile experience when it comes to SEO. You also need the expertise to interpret them and take action on them. Also, the hosting provider and technology you choose can have a significant effect on your page load times.
Responsive Web Design
Responsive design means creating an experience for optimal viewing of your site on any platform, including mobile phones, tablets and PCs. This formatting allows for proper display, easier reading and short loading times for the end user.
Keyword Performance can build you a new site – or fix the one you already have – to ensure that your website is an optimal tool for developing your brand.
