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How Mobile Page Speed Impacts Google Rankings

Akshay Kulkarni Mar 7, 2019
Google announced the mobilegeddon update in 2015 and its ranking algorithm took a major shift. The desktop-driven ranking focus now shifted towards mobiles. The page load speed always mattered in ranking, but what changed is the medium.
Mobile page speed is officially a Google ranking factor. On July 2018, Google launched the ‘speed update’ and issued that along with desktop, mobile page load speed will also contribute to ranking of websites.
Since 2010, mobile traffic has skyrocketed by 192.5% and mobile users have became the dominating force to drive the Internet. Higher mobile page speed will definitely hook this vast demographic, because of their continuously descending attention span. And it’s clear that the wider the demographic is, stronger the traffic will be, leading to higher rankings.
With mobile-first indexing, Google started indexing mobile pages over desktop ones in mobile search. Indexing of mobile-first websites will not contribute to their ranking, if the mobile page load speed is low.
On its SERP, Google always prefers a site that provides a better user experience (UX). A slow loading page frustrates a user, whereas if a page loads fast and provides a frictionless experience, he stays hooked and tends to visit more pages on that website.
Users leave a page that does not load speedily (within 3 seconds), which makes high page speeds the need of the hour. A fast loading page keeps users engaged for a long time and positively impacts the engagement metrics by increasing average time on site and lowering bounce rate.
If you’re yet to catch up with the fast moving mobile web, consider adapting Google's AMP (Accelerate Mobile Pages) technology. As the name indicates, AMP effectively boosts the speed of mobile pages, it makes them load within a second while retaining all the media elements. AMP Stories, a part of the AMP project, also help you to be on the faster side.
Though media-rich, AMP Stories load almost instantly, scoring high on performance metrics. As AMP Stories are quick-loading and visually engaging, they attract more users and reach higher rankings. With Visual Stories, creation of fast-loading AMP Stories becomes hassle-free. Its AMP Story Builder helps you create immersive AMP Stories at the drop of a hat.