There is a lot of talk in the traps about website page speed. Google (via Matt Cutts and Webmaster Tools) has openly stated that page speed will be a factor into the ranking algorithm for 2010 and will likely roll out with Caffeine – faster the better and you’ll be rewarded for it.

Google Webmaster tools have been reporting sample data from sites that have page speed issues (you can find this in the Labs section under Site Performance). Within Google Webmaster it also suggests the supplied Page Speed Firefox plug-in (installs as part of Firebug) should be used to get more accurate and full data. This has been available since July 2009 so I guess we have had plenty of notice. This is already in play for AdWords where page speed will affect your quality score.

This tools reports in the order of priorities – which things are slowing the pages the most and also gives a suggested size savings if recommendations are carried out and, I mean, recommendations. It tells you specifically what files are problematic, which images should be attended to, which JavaScript files can be combined, which CSS definitions (within an include file) aren’t being used and can be excluded, DNS look-ups, browser caching and more.

Google introduced this idea of page speed officially in their blog in June 2009.

Not surprisingly it has been written up on many sites. Webpronews covered this in November 2009.

The goal here is to make the internet faster and improve the user experience. In turn, it is very likely that this will also improve traffic and conversions. Here’s an excerpt:

“If you’re serious about wanting your site to perform better in search engines, and you haven’t given much thought to load times and such, it’s time to readjust your way of thinking.”

Of course there is going to be debate about this within the industry, with marketers and developers. It’s just a new little layer to make our jobs a little more challenging.

At this stage the Caffeine update has yet to roll out. The last update Matt Cutts posted can be found here: Expect Caffeine after the holidays.

Here are some other sites to read up on this:

Google Page Speed Report Comes to Webmaster Tools
Site Speed Google’s Next Ranking Factor
Google Wants the Web to Function like a Magazine
WebPerformance Best Practices
Should Web Page Speed Influence Google PageRank?

Google’s Matt Cutts is brushing Vince’s update off as one of 300-400 per annum but webmasters and SEOs have turned their attention to Google CEO Eric Schmidt who publically stated in October 2008 that the internet is fast becoming a “cesspool” where false information thrives and “brands are how you sort out the cesspool.” It’s also been noted that the net’s founder, Tim Berners-Lee, has been making similar statements of late which leads everyone to believe that Google is giving brands a helping hand in the search results by creating an algorithmic brand element.

Those monitoring online brand conversations for their clients have noticed that an increase in brand chatter is often quickly followed by improved search rankings and consequently improved organic traffic.

So the key question being asked is how do unlinked brand mentions and social media buzz get incorporated into Google’s algorithm? Is it purely due to brand and product keywords regularly appearing side by side that results in the brand becoming associated with the product? Forum contributors observe that advertising campaigns often result in numerous video and image links – could this also be a factor?

One cynical observer pointed out that by favouring the brands Google makes them even bigger and, by so doing, increases the Adwords spend of smaller players trying to compete with the brands in the SERPs. Another sees it as a way of supressing affiliate sites which are seen as contributing to the current “cesspool”.

It’s unlikely we’ll get direct answers to these how and why questions so it’s probably best to simply be aware of the development and to factor it into SEO campaign planning.