Google Is Using Page Load Algorithm - Beware!
July 13, 2010 SE Optimization No CommentsYou might have been hearing about Google's page ranking software now taking load times into account. Pages that are slower to load get a lower ranking. This is technically true, but it's not as big a deal as some people would have you believe. You certainly shouldn't be taking chunks of good material out of your site just to make it load faster! Google's ranking algorithm uses 200 or more different factors, and load time is just one of them.
According to Google, relevance is still more important than loading time. However, there are things you can do to speed up your site that the user will never notice -- even though you'll be making them happier at the same time as you're improving your ranking. First, we'll look at content management systems and site templates, and discuss ways they can be slowing your site down.
Your site might look good to you, but unless you're a programmer you probably chose it for its features, rather than what it's got under the hood. But just like a race car, your website needs both a sleek exterior and a high-performance interior if you want it to really fly. That means cutting or replacing excessively large images, and fixing code integration problems that could be slowing you down.
The basic rule is to cut the number of kilobytes your users have to load. This can mean reformatting or recompressing your images (use the "save for web" file option in Photoshop or other image software), or it could mean critically evaluating your WordPress (or other) plugins, and asking whether you really need to make people download all those WordPress plugins you have on your page.
Take a look at any plugins you have installed on your page. Some blogging software has lots of these bells and whistles, and also lots of problems with slow load times. No matter what CMS you use, always think carefully about how any changes are going to affect your ability to present the site effectively, and then decide whether each plugin is worth it.
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