Google To Start Ranking Pages by Site Speed

Google has always been known to rank search results based on the relevance of text on Web pages. However, the organisation has announced that its page ranking system will now be changed to include the speed at which Web pages load in response to keyword queries. As a result the loading speeds of Web sites i.e. how long it takes a Web page to show up when a user attempts to access it, will now be used to determine the list of sites displaced when a search is made on Google.

According to the organisation, this latest action is due to studies which suggest that most Internet users would rather visit Web sites that load faster than browse slow loading sites. However, this change will only be limited to a small number of Web pages. It is not yet known how individual Webmasters would receive this announcement but many would be relieved that the addition of the extra (speed) metric will only be limited to a few sites (about 1% of search queries)and hope their page ranking will not be affected at all.

There is no doubt that some Web site owners such as bloggers, would still be worried about what this means for their sites. If you fall into this group of administrators, you can go to your Google Analytics account to check how fast your Web pages load and view suggestions on how you can make them load faster.

Talking Point

What is your reaction to this latest announcement by Google? How does your Web site performance rate with other similar sites you have visited?