NEWS: Google speed update on mobile rolling out right now

[Mike Friedman]

https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2018/01/using-page-speed-in-mobile-search.html

Google announced this update was coming in January. They will now be using page speed in mobile search ranking. 

Despite what the talking heads out there will say, speeding up your site is not going to have an impact on your rankings unless your site is super, super slow. 

There is going to be all kinds of click bait blog posts, Facebook posts, forum threads, and YouTube videos rolling out this week about this.

Here is what you need to know:

The truth, from Google's own mouth, is that only very slow sites are being impacted. If you have a fast site and make it faster, you won't see any improvement in rankings. 

I would pay attention to mobile traffic on your site for the next few days. If you see a decrease, it could be from this update. I would check Search Console to see if you can identify a drop in rankings/impressions from mobile devices. Then work to fix it. 

If you see an increase, it is not because your site is fast. That just means that a lot of your competitors were super slow.

[Mike Friedman]

A good analogy for this update would be thinking of it like one of those height cutoffs for rides at amusement parks. If your mobile page speed falls below a certain mark, it may hinder your ranking performance. Everyone above that cutoff will have the same experience.

Also, I think this Speed Update should officially be nicknamed Keanu. Please use that whenever referring to it and let us see if it catches on. 

[Krisvertelo]

Still contemplating if it's a good news or not..

[Mike Friedman]

22 hours ago, Krisvertelo said:

Still contemplating if it's a good news or not..

The update basically had no impact on the SERPs. It's just business as usual.