Google claims Page Speed Service loads pages 60 per cent faster

Google has launched a new tool designed to help web sites deliver pages up to 60 per cent faster, in a move that could benefit online firms keen to improve the user experience.

The Page Speed Service automatically applies key processes to web pages to optimise them for the quickest possible loading times, as Google engineering manager Ram Ramani explained in a blog post.

"To further simplify the life of webmasters and to avoid the hassles of installation, today we are releasing the latest addition to the Page Speed family: Page Speed Service," he said.

"Users will continue to access your site just as they did before, only with faster load times. Now you don't have to worry about concatenating CSS, compressing images, caching, gzipping resources or other web performance best practices."

Ramani claimed that tests of the service had already delivered page loading improvements of between 25 and 60 per cent on several sites, and published videos showing the improvements in the loading speeds in action.

The service is currently being offered to a limited number of webmasters free of charge. It will be available more widely later in the year, and Google said that "pricing will be competitive".

The tool could clearly be of interest to online businesses by helping web sites to load faster and limit user frustration.

The Page Speed Service could also help improve browsing on-the-move as more people access sites on mobile devices with potentially slow data connections.