something brewing

Something is brewing at Google. A few hours ago Google posted some interesting information to their Adwords blog. Here’s the juicy part:

In early March, we announced that we’d soon incorporate an additional factor into Quality Score, namely landing page load time — where load time is defined as the amount of time it takes for a user to see the landing page after clicking an ad. In early May we announced that landing page load time information had become available on the Keyword Analysis page.

Starting today, this load time factor will be incorporated into your keywords’ Quality Scores. Keywords with landing pages that load slowly may get lower Quality Scores (and thus higher minimum bids). Conversely, keywords with landing pages that load very quickly may get higher Quality Scores and lower minimum bids.

That is extremely important news for anyone using Google Adwords to advertise their business. Google believes that users have a better experience when they’re not waiting around for a page to load, so naturally load time is a factor when automatically trying to judge quality. If you can lower your load time, you’ll get a higher quality score and lower CPC, so you’ll end up saving money!

If you need some help, a tool like the Website Optimizer can help you find the bulky elements of your page.

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