Facebook’s News Feed to favor fast loading websites in change; Google Play to rank apps on performance quality; Mobile success relies on quick loading sites
It’s no surprise that fast loading websites are necessary components to a strong online presence. We’re seeing search engines and social media sites respond to users’ desire to engage with websites that load quickly. Unfortunately, not all digital publishers have a site that loads quickly for computers or mobile and that can be a problem for audience retention.
Our first story today looks at Facebook’s new priority in supplying fast loading websites in its News Feed section. The Facebook News Room reports, “During the coming months we’re making an update to News Feed to show people more stories that will load quickly on mobile and fewer stories that might take longer to load, so they can spend more time reading the stories they find relevant.”
[text_ad]
“With this update, we’ll soon take into account the estimated load time of a webpage that someone clicks to from any link in News Feed on the mobile app. Factors such as the person’s current network connection and the general speed of the corresponding webpage will be considered. If signals indicate the webpage will load quickly, the link to that webpage might appear higher in your feed.”
The article continues with some additional information on the timing of this change. “This update will roll out gradually over the coming months. We anticipate that most Pages won’t see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed. Webpages that are particularly slow could see decreases in referral traffic.”
Facebook is also sharing tips for better optimization so publishers can increase load time on their own.
These changes are taking place as the focus on mobile traffic gains more attention. To look at this more in-depth, we turn to Salesforce, which reports, “Mobile traffic share jumped to 57%, a 23% increase year-over-year. And not surprisingly, 59% of consumers reported using their phones while shopping in a physical store within the last three months. Mobile is not simply about digital engagement, it is the most disruptive force to retail since the arrival of ecommerce.”
Other key findings from the company include digital commerce numbers. “Shopper spend outpaced traffic as the primary driver of the 14% digital commerce growth year-over-year. It is now more important than ever to effectively engage shoppers on-site with personalized and relevant interactions.”
Our final story looks at Google Play and its new focus on ranking apps by performance. ZDNet reports, “Google has announced changes to its search and discovery algorithms that will see better-performing apps rank higher on the Play Store than those riddled with bugs and other performance issues.”
“The new ranking algorithm will direct users to apps that experience fewer crashes and use up less battery, leading to improved rankings, user retention, and monetization, the search giant said in a blog post.”
Are you missing out on traffic to fast loading websites? Do you need to make significant changes to your audience development and website strategy? If so, set up a time to chat with us. We have helped multiplatform publishers design and develop websites that attract and retain large audiences.
