Mobile page speed refers to the speed a website loads in a mobile device, such as smartphones or tablets. In today’s day and age, where most people use smartphones, the speed of a mobile page is more important than ever. The problem is, most of the time, a website still loads faster on a desktop computer than in mobile devices.
This got the attention of Google because according to the internet usage tracking company, Statcounter, mobile online usage has overtaken desktop online usage since 2016. So last January 2018, Google announced a new and important algorithm update, they call “Speed Update”, which will be released in July 2018. Websites that used to load slowly on mobile devices will receive a possible boost in ranking if they optimize their page speed. Another factor that may improve search rank is the quality of the content of the site. Combine speed, quality, and a great user interface to take advantage of Google’s Speed Update.
The Importance of Mobile Page Speed
User Experience
Speed is one of the most important factors to most people when viewing websites. If the page is slow, most people will look for an alternative site, and might not visit the slow site ever again. With people always doing many different things on their mobile phones, they do not have the patience to wait for a slower site to load things up. More than three to five seconds is considered slow for most.
Quality Score in Relation to Optimized Speed
Adwords quality score is a grading system by Google, which determines the score of your ads, keywords, and pages. It then tells the advertisers if your site is good enough, and determines how much you will pay per click. This is why the speed boost is important, especially if your site loads slowly. If your site loads fast, people will actually find and like it, hence, Google will show your ads more even if your bid is not as high as low quality websites. Their algorithm is based on helpfulness and quality. If your site is faster, you get less bounce rates. Once Google assesses that the Quality Score of your site has improved, your Adwords campaigns will lead to more conversions.
Why does this matter? The better your mobile page speed is, the higher your quality score will be. Because the higher your quality score is, the lower your cost per click and vice versa. Lower conversions can waste money and it will also cost you valuable exposure time on SERP. To conclude, your goal is more conversions using speed, quality, and helpfulness of your ad content to let Google know that your ad is worthy of placement.
Competitive Advantage
In the internet age, where information can be found easily at the tip of your fingers, and where online stores are forcing the brick-and-mortar stores to close down, there is just too many competition. Many websites offer the same information or sell the same products. Aside from having an easier to use, and better-looking website, having a good loading speed for your website will give you an advantage over the others. People might actually bookmark and revisit your page again and again.
Hence, this is why the mobile speed boost is important. Not only will it lure more visitors, it will give you higher earnings.
What Causes Slow Mobile Speed
Amount of Page Contents
Do not overcomplicate your site. Keep it simple, yet engaging. This will make users appreciate your site more. The more unnecessary things you put on your page, the longer it will load and might turn off many visitors. Complicated and chaotic pages will lead to higher bounce rates, which will decrease conversion rates. So unless you have an online store, which requires dozens of pages to sell different items, again, keep it simple.
Number of Images
Pictures, logos, and gifs add beauty to a site, but it also makes it slower. Try to avoid putting too many images on your site. If you do, try using JPEG, as opposed to PNG, since PNG requires bigger data size. Avoid using large images. Compress them to fit the site accordingly and pleasantly, without being too overwhelming. Of course, avoid making it too small as well, as this can affect the quality once it’s up on the interface.
How to Improve Mobile Page Speeds
First of all, check your website’s performance, you can use tools like Lighthouse and Pagespeed Insights. Simply enter your site’s URL, and it will show you the speed for both the desktop and mobile versions of your site. See if you really need a speed boost or not.
And while we wait for Google’s speed update to roll out, the best way to speed up your page is to make sure you take the necessary steps to avoid the pitfalls of making a site slow.
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- – Is your web hosting site in top shape? Is your website fully optimized, including the servers and necessary software updates?
- – Check the contents of your site. Are there too many unnecessary images? If so, remove some. Avoid moving photos(GIFs), and make sure videos are not set to auto-play.
- – Minimize pop ups or auto redirect to other pages, as this will add unnecessary data downloads to viewers.
So to sum it all up, having a fast mobile page speed is very advantageous, not only to the visitors of the site but to you as well. Just remember, the more people you attract (and keep) on your site, the more revenue you will get. And speed is one of the key factors.