Similar Look Faster Code
The code which makes websites go from some black text to on a white computer screen to colour and photos and movement can age and needs updating. In this project I went through the code and re-wrote some of it to create a huge decrease in the load times of the pages.
Google has a preference for fast loading websites which work well on mobile phones. Those are more likely to come up in on the first page of results and even for Google Ads.
If you do not build websites – you would probably be surprised to learn that every few months that the core backbone of WordPress is updated and improved. The plugins (small chunks of code) are being updated, and improved, and new ones released i.e. from time to time even though a website might well have been best practice when it was launched, that over time that has aged, and require an update to keep up with and overtake the competition.
Peoples expectations are constantly increasing – and again websites can benefit some sort of refresh to meet those rising expectations.
Original Page Design
This is the speed test when measured using the publicly available
The site offers two options one is to test a page for Mobile friendly and the other is Desktop.
Google prefers a site to have the same url for both mobile and desktop. Whilst this is not a critical requirement, the challenge of having two sites is you are massively increasing the chances of them being out of sync. I.e. different content on each. Plus you are highly likely to be penalized for duplicate content unless you add canonicalization configured for each page, which is one more step.
Definition Canonicalization
Canonicalization is a technical SEO technique that points search engines to the correct version of a webpage by specifying the preferred version of a page when there are multiple URLs with similar content.
Same Page As Above Desktop Version
Result of Rewriting The Code and Tweaking The Design
Mobile version speed increased from
31 to 92
Speed Increase From 71 to 99 For The Desktop Version
Conclusion
Whilst it is easy to fall into the trap that – well we have got a website therefore we do not need to do anything more, it turns out that because the options updating and chances for tweaking and improving the code which makes a website are not static, there can be ongoing opportunities for improvement.
These tweaks can have a considerable impact on speed on page speed loads and Google is a big fan of fast loading pages. That is, not so surprising, if the opposite was the case, Google was sending searchers to really slow loading pages users would try other search engines.
HTTPs – All my websites are https, even test websites created to explore new code ideas before they are implemented on the live site. If a visitor to your site is using the Google Chrome Browser – a pretty popular choice, they could well see a message like this below if your site is not https and is just http.
Most people seeing this message will click the Back to safety option and therefore will not see your site. The financial cost of that should not need too much explaining.
From time to time website can benefit from a closer look at the code and are there any new opportunities to tweak the code and design to improve the user experience, coming along all the time.
The approach… “we have got a website, and we are not updating it” whilst – might seem to be saving money, it could be costing you more money in the “arms race” of being found on the internet and being able to showcase your offering to potential new customers and convert them in to clients.
I appreciate some of these ideas can appear a bit complex, but all I need from you is some help with pictures and a chat on the phone. As most people never send the text, I tend to write most of it. Of course, you can correct it, which clients tend to be pretty good at once there is some content to amend.
If you are looking to increase your visibility on the internet, social media and such like and require some help please call 0121 458 2665 or 07980 656 787 or if it is late / weekend please use our contact form, and we will call you back.