{"id":520,"date":"2018-01-18T15:19:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T15:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/2018\/01\/18\/what-does-googles-speed-update-mean-for-mobile\/"},"modified":"2019-12-01T15:16:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T15:16:58","slug":"what-does-googles-speed-update-mean-for-mobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2018\/01\/18\/what-does-googles-speed-update-mean-for-mobile\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Google’s “Speed Update” mean for mobile?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, <\/strong>Google announced<\/strong><\/a> a major upcoming change to its mobile ranking algorithm.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a short blog post entitled \u2018Using page speed<\/a> in mobile search ranking\u2019, it explained that starting in July 2018, page speed<\/a> will officially be a ranking factor for mobile searches.<\/p>\n

The catchily-named \u201cSpeed Update\u201d (a feat of inventive naming on a par with \u201cAssistant\u201d) is set to only affect \u201cpages that deliver the slowest experience to users<\/a>\u201d and, in Google\u2019s<\/a> words, will only impact a \u201csmall percentage of queries\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, given that Google<\/a> processes around 3.5 billion search queries per day (per Internet Live Stats<\/a>), a \u201csmall percentage\u201d can still amount to a lot of websites.<\/p>\n

So for any website owners and SEOs who might be concerned about how this affects them, let\u2019s examine what we know about the update so far, and what it means for mobile SEO.<\/a><\/p>\n

Speed as a ranking factor: coming to a mobile update near you<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Google<\/a> has used page speed as a ranking factor on desktop since April 2010<\/a>, but although having a fast mobile site has always stood companies in good stead for ranking well in search, it hasn\u2019t been an official ranking factor in Google\u2019s<\/a> algorithm until now.<\/p>\n

However, this announcement is far from coming out of left field. As far back as June 2016, Google<\/a> webmaster trends analyst Gary Illyes confirmed that the next mobile algorithm update from Google<\/a> would use page speed as a ranking factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google has also frequently emphasized the importance of speed in mobile user experience in its advice to webmasters, and Google<\/a> initiatives like Accelerated Mobile Pages<\/a> and Progressive Web Apps have aimed to furnish site owners with the tools<\/a> to make their websites fast and streamlined on mobile.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSpeed Update\u201d announcement doesn\u2019t give all that much new information about how website owners should improve their sites in order to rank well on Google<\/a>, but here\u2019s what we do know:<\/p>\n