Mobile-first indexing means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of content for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page’s content when evaluating the relevance of a page to a user’s query. Since the majority of users now access Google Search with a mobile device, Googlebot primarily crawls and indexes pages with the smartphone agent going forward.
You might be wondering about website speed. If you don’t know by now, there are many metrics and tools available to monitor the success of your website and also to measure your website’s speed.
Have you heard of Google’s page speed test? If you haven’t, let us explain. This tool analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page faster. However, the downfall of this particular tool is that it tests the speed of a 3G network which is already outdated.
3 Key Points to Remember When You Run a Page Speed Test
By now, you know that mobile is prioritized by Google and its Lighthouse tool. If your website runs great on a mobile device, your website ranks higher. Let’s observe three key points to consider when running a PageSpeed Insight test with the new API:
1. PSI Tests Are Conducted Using a Throttled 3G Connection
This will probably matter if your visitors are using low-speed 3G networks. The average download speed on mobile is constantly increasing as our mobile networks become more and more powerful. Mobile networks can run four times faster than the speed of a 3G connection.
This parameter is irrelevant if your audience is based in countries where 3G mobile networks are being surpassed by faster connections. Almost all countries have faster connections now.
2. The Testing Server Location Used by PSI Reports Is Unknown
This is the primary point!
Suppose your server is in Atlanta, closest to your target audience, while the test server used by PageSpeed Insights is in Los Angeles.
You’ll get results that don’t represent a real-world scenario in which a visitor located in Atlanta would experience lower loading time, being geographically closer to your server.
That’s why we always suggest completing your performance audit using tools like Pingdom and GTMetrix, which allow you to choose different server locations (for GTMetrix, creating an account is required prior to accessing the server locations list).
3. The Mobile Device (Or the Emulator of Mobile Device) Used by PSI Is a Mid-Tier Moto G4
Mobile devices vary significantly in their processing speed and power which impact page load time.
Under the same network conditions, the latest technology smartphone would take notably less time to load a page compared to an older model phone. New phones, firmware and software are rapidly evolving.
In conclusion, yes, it is important to receive a high score in Google Page Insights Desktop and Mobile. However, a high score doesn’t signify a lesser bounce rate and an excellent user experience. Our top goal is to appear on Google Page #1 and Convert Traffic to Conversion. Digital Marketing Concepts can help you.
Consider the Site Data below from ServiceMaster by LoveJoy, a majority of mobile visitors are Apple iPhone users using 4G or 5G networks.
Digital Marketing Concepts considers several factors when designing websites:
- Branding
- Clean, SEO-Friendly Code
- Compatibility with Multiple Browsers
- Mobile Sites vs. Responsive Sites
- Navigation
- Short Loading Times
- Usability
Some companies compromise functionality in favor of design. At Digital Marketing Concepts, we don’t! For your up-to-date SEO and mobile friendly website with lightning speed load times, contact Digital Marketing Concepts today at 239-244-2009!
