Validating Mobile Site Speed in Google: One Tool to Rule Them All?

While page load time has long been a critical metric for desktop search rankings (Google confirmed the importance of this signal back in 2010), earlier this year, Google announced site speed as a leading ranking signal for mobile sites and indicated that mobile site speed would even directly impact a site’s desktop rankings as well, based on the new “mobile first indexing” strategy, which will prioritize a site’s mobile content over desktop content for crawling, indexing, and ranking purposes. This is a major departure from desktop-centric indexing that reflects societal shifts where mobile searches have surpassed desktop searches and the share of online traffic on mobile devices has skyrocketed as smartphone capabilities continue to grow.

Recently, notifications were sent to all site owners about the change to mobile-first indexing, which resulted in an increased crawl rate for many sites.

All of these recent developments demand a focus on site speed – especially mobile speed – but with multiple tools, the question is: which Google tool do you use?

PageSpeed Insights is a Google tool specifically for developers that scores page speed for any URL for mobile and desktop devices for both speed and page content optimization, providing performance recommendations.

TestMySite is another Google tool primarily for end-users and consumers to test page speed. Unlike PageSpeed Insights, this tool provides exact page load time (in seconds) and approximate loss of site visitors due to slow load time (if applicable). However, this tool does not provide the concrete technical recommendations included in PageSpeed Insights.

In some cases, a page may score well in PageSpeed Insights but might score poorly in TestMySite. Why might this be the case? Unlike PageSpeed Insights, TestMySite simulates speed testing websites with low-powered, low memory cellular devices on 3G connections – base testing to demonstrate user experience for those who still operate on slower data networks and devices with fewer capabilities. PageSpeed Insights score for users operating on the more standard, advanced smartphones on 4G networks.

PageSpeed Insights is still the tool of choice for developers and the scoring and recommendations provided will ensure positive site experience for the vast majority of users (70% – plus who operate on 4G with newer smartphone devices). If a site owner wants to know load time in the “worst case scenario,” TestMySite provides that snapshot. TestMySite is also a good quick-and-easy sales tool for prospective customers to indicate worst page load time (for lowest-performing devices still on the market), which can lead to a larger conversation about page speed and optimization, and ultimately, use of PageSpeed Insights to diagnose the cause(s) of poor page performance and address the technical and on-page factors.

Also, keep in mind that Google uses performance data aggregated from Chrome users to score site speed, so if you have a client reporting page load and performance issues, inquire into whether these are being reported on a specific browser or device type. It’s often helpful to spot-check server response times and load time on non-Android devices and non-Chrome browsers if there’s discrepancy between page speed scoring from Google’s tools and what the client is reporting either from user experience or third-party testing tools.

Of course, access to a site's Google Analytics account gives you insight into a plethora of granular insights unavailable anywhere else, including page load time, page download time, average redirection time, average server response time, and average server connection time, along with user behavioral insights like average time spent on page and bounce rate.

Lastly, for benchmarking purposes, Google still recommends page load of 1.34 seconds or less on desktop and 1 second or less on mobile. These thresholds are average Time to First Byte (TTFB) measurements: the duration of time from when the user makes the initial HTTP request to when the first byte of data is received by the user’s browser – NOT full page load time. For full loading and displaying of content, Google recommends 3 seconds or less on mobile. And while Google has not specified when they begin levying ranking penalties against load time, current feedback from digital marketers suggest 5-7 seconds is when load time begins to negatively impact search rankings.

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Brandon Kenig currently serves as an Audience Growth and Revenue Strategist for 10up, one of the world's leading web design and content creation firms, serving clients as diverse as Microsoft, Uber, Brightcove, Entertainment Weekly, and the World Economic Forum. Additionally, Brandon serves as Marketing Director for Curtin Property Company, a real estate firm specializing in multi-family residential and mixed-used commercial development. An entrepreneur himself, Brandon is also the Founder and President of Brandaway Digital LLC, which provides strategic consultation and digital marketing support for dozens of clients in various industry verticals. A longtime tech enthusiast and digital marketing strategist with a deep background in search engine optimization, social media outreach, pay-per-click advertising, and digital marketing best practices, Brandon's digital odyssey has taken him from large, multi-national corporations to tech start-ups, with major roles at AMC Theatres, Inc, Cox Automotive, and MobileUp Software. From serving as a keynote guest speaker on digital marketing at various conferences to consulting for several tech start-ups, Brandon continues to absorb all things digital and evangelize on harnessing the power of digital marketing for all industries and businesses. Brandon currently serves as a Founding Board Member of the Kansas Entrepreneurs Policy Network.