If you use Google AdWords for your PPC campaign you’ll want to make sure that your landing page load time is fast. Ever since the days of old, Google has valued fast load times for web pages. But only recently have they started analyzing load times for PPC landing pages.
In March, they announced that landing page load time would be used to compute PPC Quality Scores. In May, the information was made available on the Keyword Analysis page. But starting yesterday, landing page load time is being incorporated into keywords’ Quality Scores, which means that faster loading times will affect your minimum bids. The faster loading your landing page then the lower your minimum bids.
Google has been perfectly clear that their primary concern is that the user have a great experience. That concern benefits you, them, and your customers. So this change can actually help you. Here are some ways you can improve your landing pages’ load times:
- Cut down on the number of redirects that you use
- Don’t use interstitial ads
- Use a dedicated server
- Don’t display text in your images
- Minimize your Flash files
- Put CSS and JavaScript in external files
- Compress the code on your pages as much as possible
Bottom line: Pay attention to your landing pages’ load times. They’re much more important now than they’ve ever been.
