EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOOGLE’S SPEED UPDATE

Unless you have been hiding beneath a rock for the last few years (who has time for that?), you’ve heard rumblings about your HVAC website’s speed being calculated as an SEO ranking factor. Up until this point, you may have trusted that your web application is optimized and hoped for this best while focusing more on other aspects of your HVAC marketing…but the time has now come to pay a bit more attention toward your HVAC website’s speed. It matters more than ever to your overall search engine optimization success.

ANSWERS TO YOUR FAQS ABOUT YOUR HVAC WEBSITE SPEED & ITS IMPACT ON SEO

#1: WHAT IS THE BACK STORY OF THE “SPEED UPDATE”?

Google keeps us on our toes with algorithm updates names after animals or updates that come without warning and remain unnamed, but not in the case of the Speed Update. The Google powers that be, in this instance, were kind enough to give us HVAC marketing people a heads up that change was coming down the pipeline. Back in 2010, Google started to throw down the gauntlet surrounding the importance of page speed as a ranking factor. At this time in page speed history was focused solely on the load speed for desktop searches. This July, ranking factors will also look at how fast mobile pages for the first time.

#2: SO, WHAT DOES THE “SPEED UPDATE” ACTUALLY MEAN FOR MY HVAC WEBSITE?

Google has assured us that only the slowest of the slow sites will be negatively impacted by the so-called Speed Update, but undeniably website load times are now a factor to be considered when reaching for search engine optimization objectives. In addition, your HVAC website’s slow page speed creates an environment where search engines crawl fewer of your web pages which also negatively affects your indexation.

#3: WHAT SHOULD I BE AIMING FOR TO ACHIEVE MY SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION GOALS?

Just like anything else related to HVAC search engine optimization, your success in this channel is also closely tied to the user experience. According to Kissmetrics, 47 percent of your HVAC website’s visitors are expecting your website to load in less than two seconds. They go on to estimate that 40 percent of visitors will actually leave your HVAC website if the loading process takes more than three seconds. While most websites in across the board are showing averages closer to ten seconds, the three-second mark is a goal to strive toward.

#4: WHAT TOOLS CAN BE USED TO MEASURE MY HVAC WEBSITE LOAD TIME?

Many tools of different shades and colors are available to keep a close watch on your website’s load time. Here are few that you might want to check out: WebPageTest, Pingdom, GTmetrix, MachMetrics and SpeedCurve. Of course, many other tools exist offering different elements and attributes that may work with your unique HVAC website’s parameters. Whichever tool you choose, be sure to check it often to ensure your website speed time is trending downward to achieve your SEO goals.

#5: HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY WEBSITE LOAD TIME?

By following a checklist of best practices, you can achieve success with your HVAC marketing objectives. Here’s the punch list you need:

• Use an app to compress files that are larger than 150 bytes.
• Minimize your code and eliminate excesses that may exist in your CSS, JavaScript and HTML.
• Review and reduce your usage of redirects.
• Avoid and minimize the use of JavaScript.
• Implement browser caching (so when a return user loads your site, all elements of your website do not have to be reloaded).
• Shrink your images and act as a watchdog for all new pages to ensure they don’t slow your HVAC website speed.

Search engine optimization is a game of increments where all parts contribute to the whole. Not all ranking factors, however, are of equal importance to Google and the other search engines. Your HVAC website load speed is a top criteria, and the indication is undeniable that it will continue to rise up the ranks in importance for both mobile and desktop users. Making the time to start paying attention to your HVAC website speed now.

This post originally appeared on HVACMatt.com.