Google launches Test My Site to aid SMEs’ online presence

• Online resource measures performance across devices
• Taking advantage of micro-moments important for business success

GOOGLE has announced the launch of its new online resource Test My Site, allowing owners of micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and marketers to measure their websites’ performance across a range of devices, from mobile to desktop.

Test My Site is essentially designed for non-technical people – decision makers who do not have extensive knowledge about website performance – and is therefore easy to use and understand, explained Google Malaysia  head of SMB marketing Denise Gamo (pic above).

Users need only type the web address into the free resource and are able to see how the site scores in a few moments. Users can also get a detailed report emailed directly to them.

The Test My Site report grades websites based on three criteria: mobile-friendliness (the quality of mobile user experience), mobile speed (length of time the site takes to load on a mobile device) and desktop speed (length of time to load on a desktop).

This online barometer may seem to be just an interesting toy at first pass, but it does perform an important task. It helps businesses measure how fast their website loads on mobile and desktop, gives them a score and lists areas that need to be improved.

“This is important because people search on mobile and want information on mobile,” said Gamo.

Take advantage of micro-moments
This year, Google’s consumer barometer study (which it performs yearly) revealed interesting insights into the behaviour of the Asia Pacific consumer. This information has influenced the building of Test My Site.

“The main learnings from the study are very informative and some are even shocking, in a good way, for businesses. We want to encourage businesses, especially SMEs to really take advantage of these trends in behaviour,” divulged Gamo.

The key to this is leveraging on micro-moments, the intent-rich moments that occur when people use their smartphones to discover, research or buy things. This makes sense especially given that mobile adoption in Asia is far ahead of the West; in Malaysia, for example it is at 81%, ahead of the US (71%).

Next page: Four key findings