Page Load Times & Google

Webmaster Discussion
#1

A couple months ago Google told webmasters that they needed to watch how long their pages take to load. They even put a new feature in Google Webmaster Tools so you could see average load times for your pages. They now have two measures of site speed - the one they’ve always had that shows how long it took Googlebot to retrieve the HTML, and now the Google Labs thing that shows total load time for all elements on the page. They then go further and suggest ways you can speed up the load times.

Thing is, my HTML load times are pretty fast - I’m averaging just under 1 second, which given that it’s all WordPress/MySQL based isn’t too bad (I think). BUT according to them my total load time is horrible - in the worst 1% of sites on the Internet. When I watch pages load they do take a little time, but there’s something for the visitor to look at almost immediately and the rest fills in just about as fast as you can comfortably scroll down the page. Part of the issue is that it’s a porn site that’s graphically intensive. The sponsor video clips are another reason - they don’t load as quickly as other elements on the page.

So I’m not quite sure whether I should be worried or not. Other than my home page (which I know has page load issues), I don’t feel like I have a bad user experience, but according to their formula I do. Google likes me at the moment - I get plenty of traffic from them - but I don’t know whether they’ll hit me with a penalty at some point because of load times.

Thoughts?

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#2

Re: Page Load Times & Google

Here are some links from Google on the subject…

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-fast-is-your-site.html
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/12/your-sites-performance-in-webmaster.html

#3

Re: Page Load Times & Google

I have exactly the same problem.

All my HTML, Images and CSS is optimized and VERY fast at loading, however Google still finds my sites very slow. For example it’s telling me Gaydemon.com is slower than 80% of all websites.

I compared a few sites and the only thing I can find is that Google is not looking at onpage factors but at the server / machine’s response time. Which is difficult to do anything about, nothing you do on your page will make it faster.

To be honest, when I visit my own pages I think they load pretty damn fast compared to almost any other site I visit. Yet I’m told its slow.

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#4

Re: Page Load Times & Google

By the way, have you looked at the suggestions Google gives to speed up your site?

Google is telling me that Google Analytics script is slowing down my page… and that i should optmize it. Yet another part of Google says I’m not allowed to modify the script. :no:

#5

Re: Page Load Times & Google

I spoke to someone who is in a position to know and they made a point that is not being considered. It indicates on a percentile basis. How many sites have damn near nothing on the page? There are huge numbers of them and these load times are also factored into the percentages.

#6

Re: Page Load Times & Google

Thanks, that’s interesting to hear and a bit comforting. Just wish Google could be less cryptic and more informative. They’re never very clear about anything.

#7

Re: Page Load Times & Google

A few tips for page load speed on “important” pages…

First, reduce the number of “calls” for resources like javascript libraries and CSS libraries - these can take some time to access.

I’m saying on certain pages, give up calling a CSS or JS document - embed the stuff.

Put all your java and css in the header, so that the FIRST call to load the page does it in one swipe.

(If you have 3 scripts and 2 CSS files, that can slow things down from a 'bots point of view, which is not necessarily a real life point of view…)

So, paste it in with the right tags.

Next, try to eliminate variables thrown in by external sources. Host your own stuff, even it it means hosting a large .flv file or WinMedia file.

I’ve seen hosted galleries collapse under peak times and become virtually unusable.

And, lots of non-porn sites are getting less than they deserve in page-load times simply because they have a YouTube video embedded and the player takes a long time to load.

Oddly, some “tube” flash video is written so that it doesn’t try to download the entire stream to the client. Others are not. And, of course, it depends upon the client’s global flash settings as well as those they have chosen for a paticular site.

I’m speaking through my hat here, as I have taken many steps to help Goog find happiness with my sites, and it hasn’t yet fully happened - but I think I’m on the right track. Traffic is picking up, googlebots now visit every day.

Bottom line - if you build a page that loads quickly without using externals, Goog will like it better than a page it dissects and finds slow-loading external resources for.

I think the 'bots are programmed to look at one’s external links and factor them up or down based on what everyone else’s external links to the same place reveal.

(There is some “magic” major bLogs and mainstream news sources use, but it’s pretty well protected by patent…)

…and…

(Yeah, the Goog engine will look at how quickly a hosted gallery loads across several different sites using the same HG.)

Really, if your site’s loads are < a second, I don’t think the bots will have a problem.

The trick is to keep the long-loading pages away from the 'bots, just link to them and let the 'bots see the fast loaders up front. They’ll find the rest on their own, based on your meta tags, and {shouldn’t} have an issue with more complex pages within a site taking more time to load.

The 'bots can tell the difference.

The 'bots, when it’s all said and done, are rather adept at looking at a page and applying human value to it.

#8

Re: Page Load Times & Google

But then you are designing pages for Bots and not people. That’s exactly what you should not do according to Google’s guidelines.

Not using external css files means you increase the page size and code by massive amounts. External css means you download that code only once per session and infact saves time as you browse the site.

The javascripts is an issue which is why I only use it when absolutly neccessary.

Problem for me is that Googles only complaint for my sites are with their own bloody Javascript. Google suggest I should improve the loading of Google Analytics, which of course I can’t. That script I have no control over, its created and hosted by… yes… Google!

So Google is telling me that the problem is Google lol!

I’m also upgrading my GayDemon server to Dual Quad Core 64bit system with SCSI drives and 16gig of RAM. After that I can’t do much more.