Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of getting pages to rank higher in organic (non-paid) search engine results on various search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. SEO encompasses technical considerations such as load time, keywords, and creative elements and content to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase awareness in search engines.
Search engines use automated crawlers (bots) to read sites and then parse the pages, interpret the results, and index and cache the content. This content is then analyzed via various proprietary algorithms to generate a ranking system used with search keywords to show appropriate links to users.
Page Speed
Google has stated in Using site speed in web search ranking that site speed and, as a result, page speed is one of the signals used by its algorithm to rank pages. Research cited in How Website Speed Actually Impacts Search Ranking has shown that Google might be specifically measuring time to first byte when it considers page speed. In addition, a slow page speed means that search engines can crawl fewer pages using their allocated crawl budget and this could negatively affect your index.
Everything about Monetate's code, the Monetate tag, and the content it serves on your site is designed to be as quick as possible. Monetate's engineers take numerous steps when developing actions, experiences, and the Monetate platform itself to ensure content is loaded quickly and seamlessly for users across multiple platforms.
Algorithms Optimized for Mobile
In recent years, search engine algorithms have grown more sophisticated and require access to more content, including JavaScript and CSS files. Search engines such as Google need to render the complete webpage to ensure the best experience for the user.
Google wants to ensure pages are mobile-friendly to apply both the mobile-friendly tag in the search results and the associated ranking boost for mobile search results.
Algorithms Focused on User-Friendly Page Layout
Part of Google's page layout algorithm looks at where content is placed on the page in relation to the advertisements. Through the questionable use of CSS or JavaScript, Web developers can easily make it appear that the content is front and center while the ads are the most visible part of the page above the fold. This is done in an attempt to artificially prop up their search ranking while increasing the drive to advertisements.
If Google's algorithm determines a webpage is mostly ads above the fold with the actual content below the fold, it can devalue the rankings for those pages.
If a site denies search engine robots access to their CSS and JavaScript files in an attempt to prevent this algorithm from impacting them, they may be penalized for other reasons. Google states, "Disallowing crawling of JavaScript or CSS files in your site's robots.txt directly harms how well our algorithms render and index your content and can result in suboptimal rankings."