Tag Archives: google
Does Page Load Time Matter for SEO?
Page load time is usually defined as the time it takes for a webpage to fully load in a browser showing all elements of a page. Does page load time matter for SEO? Here’s a question that has come up on my radar a few times over the last few months. In fact, Matt Cutts of Google recently spoke about it in one of his many blog videos (link below). So, with so many people wondering does the speed to load a page affect SEO, what is the answer? In short, the answer is yes, page load time does matter.
How Important is Page Load Time?
Okay, Matt Cutts affirmed that page load time is a factor in ranking a site, but how important is it when it comes to ranking in the SERPs? It’s apparent that while page load speed is collected and measured as part of Page Rank, (along with over 200 other variables). It is reasonable to suggest that this variable is a low priority or low/moderate variable – unless the speed is so slow that it affects the ability for Google to visit and collect data from your site. I personally visited plenty of web pages in many categories and went through them all keeping track of page load time. Many links on the first page were slower than pages on the second, third, fourth and fifth page of listings. In addition, I tried to take a pulse of what other SEO professionals and web developers were saying about this as well.
From watching the Matt Cutts video (link located below) and many other videos along with information regarding SEO released by Google and other search engines, the key point they try to drive into web developers and SEO/SEM professionals heads is that a quality built site that offers visitors the best web experience should be the goal when building a site. So, if your site is filled with unnecessary code, filled up with distracting media and difficult to navigate, not only will the user experience lack, but this will also be reflected in reduced rankings.
Watch the video here:
Why A New Site May Get Sandboxed By Google
Did you already encounter the painful experience of launching a new website and no matter what you do it just seems impossible to get the site show up in the top 10, top 20 or even top 30 in Google’s search engine rankings?
This is commonly known as the Google sandboxing effect. It doesn’t necessarily happen to every new site, but experts believe that it may happen to about 60-70% of all newly launched sites.
But, what does it actually mean to “get sandboxed”?
Truth is, no one knows exactly, except maybe a few engineers from Google. Most search engine experts believe that there are various factors that trigger the sandboxing effect within the first few weeks after a new site has been launched.
It could happen that you launch a brand new site and after one week it shows up at position 10 in Google (this obviously won’t happen for a competitive keyword, but for a long-tail keyword it is very possible). You do some work on your new site, you build some backlinks and suddenly, one week later the site shows up somewhere around position 100.
That’s typically a sign that your site got sandboxed. For certain keywords it seems like that a new site gets sandboxed immediately, right after its launch.
Now, what are the reasons for a new site getting sandboxed?
As I already mentioned, no one knows exactly, but here are some of the reasons that seem to trigger the sandboxing effect:
* Building too many links too quickly.
* All backlinks are coming from one single source – for example, all backlinks are from social bookmarking sites.
* The site contains too much duplicate content. This may happen if content is pulled in from RSS feeds.
* There is a lack of anchor text variation – this happens if the exact same keyword is used for all backlink anchor texts.
* And as I already mentioned, it seems like certain keywords that are highly competitive or that belong to a certain niche automatically trigger the sandbox effect.
Once your site has been sandboxed, there isn’t really a lot you can do to get out of it within a few days or weeks. Just be patient and wait. Create unique content and build quality backlinks. Most sites are trapped in the sandbox for about 4-8 months.
So, it can happen that your site is stuck at position 100 for several months and then suddenly it moves onto Google’s top 10.
Why A New Site May Get Sandboxed By Google
Did you already encounter the painful experience of launching a new website and no matter what you do it just seems impossible to get the site show up in the top 10, top 20 or even top 30 in Google’s search engine rankings?
This is commonly known as the Google sandboxing effect. It doesn’t necessarily happen to every new site, but experts believe that it may happen to about 60-70% of all newly launched sites.
But, what does it actually mean to “get sandboxed”?
Truth is, no one knows exactly, except maybe a few engineers from Google. Most search engine experts believe that there are various factors that trigger the sandboxing effect within the first few weeks after a new site has been launched.
It could happen that you launch a brand new site and after one week it shows up at position 10 in Google (this obviously won’t happen for a competitive keyword, but for a long-tail keyword it is very possible). You do some work on your new site, you build some backlinks and suddenly, one week later the site shows up somewhere around position 100.
That’s typically a sign that your site got sandboxed. For certain keywords it seems like that a new site gets sandboxed immediately, right after its launch.
Now, what are the reasons for a new site getting sandboxed?
As I already mentioned, no one knows exactly, but here are some of the reasons that seem to trigger the sandboxing effect:
* Building too many links too quickly.
* All backlinks are coming from one single source – for example, all backlinks are from social bookmarking sites.
* The site contains too much duplicate content. This may happen if content is pulled in from RSS feeds.
* There is a lack of anchor text variation – this happens if the exact same keyword is used for all backlink anchor texts.
* And as I already mentioned, it seems like certain keywords that are highly competitive or that belong to a certain niche automatically trigger the sandbox effect.
Once your site has been sandboxed, there isn’t really a lot you can do to get out of it within a few days or weeks. Just be patient and wait. Create unique content and build quality backlinks. Most sites are trapped in the sandbox for about 4-8 months.
So, it can happen that your site is stuck at position 100 for several months and then suddenly it moves onto Google’s top 10.