Tag Archives: pages
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:
Are Directories Still a Good Form of Link Building?
This question keeps arising and for me at the time of writing this the answer can be explained in this following article. The reason this question has been raised again is because Google has removed its recommendation to submit to directories from its webmasters guidelines.
However I dont think this means that the search engine will stop taking directories links into account. It just feels that it doesnt need to recommend this tactic anymore. This does sound a bit confusing and you have to ask why Google has removed this information, it more than likely that this is a small part of a bigger picture which Google is working on. Google is not likely to tell us what this is and as usual we will have to work it out for ourselves.
I do think however that there are changes going on in the search engine result pages I will describe a few of the most recent ones below. With some search terms more informational websites seems to be showing up as Google thinks a higher percentage of people may be looking for information on a subject rather than to be faced will a list of companies.
Although Pagerank is irrelevant when it comes to SEO it seems to be having an even more less of an impact these days.
Lets get back to the subject of directories the good thing about directories is that they are good for co-citation. This means that what your website is associated with. For example if you had a link to your website on a page with lots of other links to, lets say link directories then Google may think your website is related to that industry. If you want to check what your co-citation is just click the similar pages link next to your listings in the search engine results pages.
So to answer the question at the top of the article are directories still a good form of linking building? and at the time of writing this article I would say yes, however Im sure people would disagree. This may change and in the end only time will tell. I can however prove that this still works as I have seen it work on many websites and even on my own. Just remember to make sure you are submitting to good quality directories like the one above and dont just submit to any old directory.
Are Directories Still a Good Form of Link Building?
This question keeps arising and for me at the time of writing this the answer can be explained in this following article. The reason this question has been raised again is because Google has removed its recommendation to submit to directories from its webmasters guidelines.
However I dont think this means that the search engine will stop taking directories links into account. It just feels that it doesnt need to recommend this tactic anymore. This does sound a bit confusing and you have to ask why Google has removed this information, it more than likely that this is a small part of a bigger picture which Google is working on. Google is not likely to tell us what this is and as usual we will have to work it out for ourselves.
I do think however that there are changes going on in the search engine result pages I will describe a few of the most recent ones below. With some search terms more informational websites seems to be showing up as Google thinks a higher percentage of people may be looking for information on a subject rather than to be faced will a list of companies.
Although Pagerank is irrelevant when it comes to SEO it seems to be having an even more less of an impact these days.
Lets get back to the subject of directories the good thing about directories is that they are good for co-citation. This means that what your website is associated with. For example if you had a link to your website on a page with lots of other links to, lets say link directories then Google may think your website is related to that industry. If you want to check what your co-citation is just click the similar pages link next to your listings in the search engine results pages.
So to answer the question at the top of the article are directories still a good form of linking building? and at the time of writing this article I would say yes, however Im sure people would disagree. This may change and in the end only time will tell. I can however prove that this still works as I have seen it work on many websites and even on my own. Just remember to make sure you are submitting to good quality directories like the one above and dont just submit to any old directory.