Google: Ranking sites by speed

Page speed affects rankings

Nothing is more annoying than a slow loading web page. Well, actually there are loads of things more annoying - Twilight fans for example - but it's still frustrating. Google has recognized the bane to web users that is slow-loading web pages and as such have decided to rank web pages by the speed at which they load.

Using loading speeds as a guide, Google has ranked the sites in response to keyword queries. Google said they had done this "because studies have shown that web users much prefer to visit sites that load quickly."

True enough.

In case you are the owner of a site and are now concerned about your ranking, only be afraid if it is really slow-loading. According to Google, the new rankings should affect only a small number of sites.

Updated rankings

According to the source in the industry, Google have been utilising this practice for at least the past six months but this official announcement signifies a move to inform the website-owning public that slow-loading sites aren't tolerated by browsers.

This was confirmed by Google engineers Amit Singhal and Matt Cutts who said internal studies at Google had confirmed slow sites garnered much less traffic than fast loading ones. On top of user frustration, slow loading sites can create a negative impression with users making them reluctant to return.

The extra metric showing speed can be displayed when users click on a link or type in an address. Google have also provided links to tools that website owners can use to see how fast their pages load, enabling them to improve them if necessary.

However Google have stated that the No.1 criteria for high rankings is relevance to a keyword search.

Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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