Got a slow website? Google might name and shame

Mentioned over on the Google Chromium blog this month is a possible upcoming modification to the Chrome browsing experience that has the potential to dramatically impact how users experience your website in the future. The post states:

“In the future, Chrome may identify sites that typically load fast or slow for users with clear badging. This may take a number of forms and we plan to experiment with different options, to determine which provides the most value to our users. “

What does that mean in practice? Essentially, Google will present a warning to users should your site not perform at optimal levels. As tech site The Verge writes – “a badge of shame for websites that load slowly in Chrome.”

For now, the proposals are just that, with no formal date for introduction; but with some browser monitoring tools like Stat Counter put Chrome usage as high as 65%, you can guarantee that any implementation would have pretty significant impact.

If you haven’t already taken steps to verify your site’s loading speed using tools like YSlow, Lighthouse, or GTMetrix, now is the chance to get ahead of the game before it’s too late. A fast performing website is one of the core goals of all our hosting platforms, and if you’re not currently seeing that then our team will do their best to ensure that you are.

As noted in this previous post on our blog, our WordPress Hosting platform was named the fastest UK performing host tested this year.