Site Speed Optimization: The Need for Speed

Posted on 16 December 2009

Is it the next big thing for optimizing on Google’s Caffeine?

Let’s travel down memory lane, as Rand shows us how the algorithm has changed over time, citing smaller or larger reliance on each of the below factors of SEO rank.

• Domain Trust
• External Links Anchor text
• On page Keywords
• Raw Pagerank/links

What immediately comes to mind for big algorithm changes in the past is that they were all done in reaction to SEO gaming of the previous ranking method.  Raw links could easily be bought and fabricated and on-page keywords stuffed; anchor text could be faked (miserable failure). Enter domain age, authority and diversity of inbound links, link acquisition rate, etc.  For this reason, the site speed criterion throws me off somewhat.

What’s this in response to? Spammers slowing down the internet with pokey sites?  Unlikely.  Preparing SEOs for an eventual mobile ranking algorithm? Again, it doesn’t make much sense.  Will static HTML sites continue to beat our their Flash-y counterparts?  If so, broadband penetration rates and RIA technologies are going in one direction and Google in the other.  Are slow, relevant sites going to be pushed below quick, spammy sites?

In the meantime, the new labs section of webmaster tools tells me a site is slower than 60% of its peers; I’d better get to work.

Related:

• Matt Cutts points to several tools that help identify and correct site speed issues.
• SEO Boy gives their take, and even coins the acronym SSO for site speed optimization.

Photo credit topfer on www.sxc.hu.