Somewhere within Google, there’s an organization known as the "Make the Web Faster" initiative, and today, a representative presented the world with a gift. Something new named mod_pagespeed is supposed to make streamlining a site a quick, easy process.
A Google representative explained in an email to WebProNews, "We just launched a new open-source Apache module called mod_pagespeed that any webmasters can use to quickly and automatically optimize their sites. (It’s like Page Speed, but makes the changes automatically.)"
Then, in case anyone was wondering whether mod_pagespeed is worth looking into, the representative continued, "It can reduce page load times by up to 50% – in other words, essentially speeding up websites by roughly 2x."
So mod_pagespeed should be of definite use to webmasters, considering it’s common knowledge that would-be visitors bail when things take too long to load.
Plus, as Google factors site speed into Web search rankings, having a fast site will help ensure that would-be visitors are directed to it in the first place.
In any event, it’s a good bet that more site speed tools and suggestions are on the way. Google’s representative wrote, "At Google, we’re obsessed with speed – we measure it, pick it apart, think about it constantly. It’s even baked into our quarterly goals."