SEO
is difficult to understand but with Google continually adding new factors in how they create their SERPs, it’s growing even more difficult. Now things like speed and mobile-first indexing are playing a large role in your ranking. This is because Google recognizes that 53% of users abandon a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load – something that shouldn’t surprise you considering we’re living in a time when efficiency and ease of use are important everywhere. Search engine users will definitely see it happening online as well in July 2018 when a new update will place emphasis on speed.
Preparing for the Need for Speed
This is something Google has been discussing with Stone Temple Consulting for over a year now. They’re ranking sites based on mobile experience because 55% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices. When your site displays the same content on both desktop and mobile nothing will change unless your site is slow. However, if your site has less content on its mobile site you’ll see a negative impact on your rankings. This is why it’s important to make sure that your mobile experience is as good as it can be.
For this to happen you need to make sure that your website is responsive. Simply this means that your content needs to be able to be displayed on all the different types of devices that exist today. Failure to do so will have a major negative impact on you in the SERPs once all these changes are rolled out. However, this isn’t all bad news. Since Google understands that not everyone can fix things right away they’re offering tools that will help you map out and track your progress here.
What This Means for WordPress Webmasters
A lot of webmasters are still using WordPress today even though its code is so bulky due to continual security and performance updates. It still functions well enough to support more than a quarter of all the world’s websites today though. However, it doesn’t load very fast because it has so much content that’s run by complex plugins.
WordPress is working hard to steadily improve its load speeds today. They’re currently working with Google to create updates that bolster functionality and diminish load times.
Tools to Help you Improve Your SEO Ranking
There are several tools that Google is giving web developers.
One is the Speed Scorecard. This is a simple tool where you enter your domain’s URL, hit search, and you’re told how long it takes to load your home page. You’ll want to take time to check it out against your competition to see how you’ll do when it comes to SEO.
Another tool Google is giving webmasters is the impact calculator, which is also found on their Speed Scorecard. Remembering that traffic translates to revenue, this tool will show you how much money you’ll lose if you rank worse than your competition.
With all these tools, you’ll have some help keeping up with everything. This change in Google’s algorithm will definitely have a major impact on your SEO ranking. Nobody knows exactly when that will be though. Nevertheless, when you stop to consider how important all of this is, you can understand why you want to hire a company who can take on this full-time job for you. ISEOU has over 20 years experience in this industry so give them a call today.