Faster Sites Lead to Better Rankings in Google with Michael Black

Michael Black, WordCamp KC 2019

Friday, June 28th, 2pm – Hudson Auditorium (NMOCA 217)

Google really cares about user experience, and one of the most important parts of a user’s experience is how quickly your site loads. Google has found that more than 53% of mobile users will leave a site that doesn’t load in under three seconds. Understanding how your site loads on all devices is very important, and testing your site on a desktop with fast internet does not give you any idea of how your site performs on a mobile device on 3G. In this session I will discuss tools to simulate and measure your site’s speed for different devices and connection speeds, and I’ll show how to decipher reports from testing tools so you can find what you can improve. I’ll also discuss caching plugins, htaccess, and something called prefetching and preconnects. Not only will we discuss what you can do, but we’ll also look some things that reports suggest doing which aren’t always helpful and can cause more frustration than they’re worth. Making your site really fast is a bit of an art and a bit of a science. I’ll help you find the balance between the two so you can make your site fast without pulling out all your hair. A faster site might just be the edge you need to outrank your competition in Google.

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Michael Black

I began my career as a professional SEO in 1997. I owned a small business that pulled network wire and setup local networks for small businesses, like doctors’ offices. One client said to me “What’s this internet thing and how do I get my business on it?” and I answered “I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out.” I learned how to make a rockin’ 90s website complete with waving flag gifs and animated dancing animals. Needless to say, the client was very pleased. Then she asked “Great – now how do I get people to come to this so I can make money off of it?” I said “I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out.” And now 22 years later, I’m still figuring it out. I’ve been very lucky to work with about 500 companies on around 5,000 websites. I’ve worked with Walmart, Thrifty Car Rental, Dollar Car Rental, Bayer and Blu-Ray, just to name a few. I’ve marketed everything from diamonds to doorknobs, and loved every minute! I’ve been a featured speaker at WordCamp KC, many times at Pubcon, Hubspot Meetups, KC’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, KCSEM, SEMPO Cities, Middle of the Map Fest, and others. I love SEO and SEM, and work hard to demystify it because it’s not a black box. SEO takes skill, dedication, experience, and patience, but it’s not magic.

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