Webpage speed tests are all the rage in today’s world for a variety of reasons. One reason organizations are increasingly webpage speed testing is because page load times increasingly factor into search engine ranking factors. Especially, Google ranking factors.
On Friday, April 9, 2010 Google officially announced that it was adding website speed as measured by how a page responds to a Googlebot and page load time as measured by Google Toolbar.
Dotcom-Monitor had an early heads-up that this might be coming while we were at the 2009 Pubcon Conference in Las Vegas with Google’s Guru of Algorithmic Spin Matt Cutts. It was there that Google’s Matt Cutts first noted that there was “heavy lobbying” at Google to add page load times to the Google search algorithm.
Google’s 2010 addition of a webpage speed test as a Google ranking factor in search has been a while in coming, but it was development that professionals in the search engine ranking factor world where aware was coming. What continues to remains unknown is how far Google will take the website speed test as a criteria in its search engine ranking factors algorithm and overall strategic positioning.
The development in the relationship between Google Toolbar and Googlebot is worth watching for search engine ranking factors analysis. Google ranking factors, however, continue to be only one of several reasons why companies are monitoring webpage load times. And while Dotcom-Monitor will continue to informed of changes in the Google Toolbar and Googlebot interactions with search engine ranking factors, we will also continue to be on the forefront of webpage speed testing innovations, such as the recently released UserView-Video Capture of page load times and we app errors. On the one hand, a over a dozen of free website speed tests are available to augment staying on top of Google ranking factor, on the other hand most companies are interested in website speed tests that go far beyond the Google Toolbar and Googlebot interaction with their website and shows them the uptime, performance, and functionality data needed to give Google something to index in the first place.
If you’re curious to get started with doing your own site speed checkup, there are over a dozen free website speed test at the Dotcom-Monitor website.
