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Speed doesn’t kill when it comes to SEO

Members of the Greatest Generation, and maybe even Baby Boomers, are willing to show a little patience, understanding that some things take time.

That’s not the case with the computer generations, and especially the mobile device computer generations. For them we have Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Those who rely on their computer, and their easy-to-carry device, well, they want it NOW. Like it or not, fundraisers have to be aware of that demand for speed.

During the 2015 Bridge to Integrated Marketing Conference, Kara Stolpinski and Sam Minnis of Nexus Direct and Gary Westermark of TIAA-CREF said that as more people use mobile equipment, many search engines are becoming more mobile friendly. That means future generations of supporters will use their mobile phones/devices, not only to learn about an organization but also to donate.

And, they want to do it fast.

Panelists suggested keeping the following in mind for mobile SEO page speed:

It is important for both mobile and desktop.

The industry standards for page load times suggest a maximum of two seconds.

The general rule of thumb is the more deviation, the higher the bounce rate.

On mobile, page optimization becomes paramount as users have less bandwidth to download page resources.

Some responsive design practices leave mobile users downloading more data, not less, so be careful.

Take advantage of optimization techniques to gain speed:

Page caching

Image optimization

Gzip compression

Minification

Non-essential Javascript delaying.