You’ve probably noticed that some website pages load more quickly than others. There are numerous reasons for this, but one thing is certain: if your website loads slowly, you will miss out on a lot of off-page and on-page SEO benefits.
A lot of website owners are so focused on aesthetics that they neglect one of the most essential aspects of a highly successful website — speed.
What is Page Speed?
The term “page speed” refers to the time required for a web page to load. It refers to a website’s “first time to byte” or the time required for a browser to receive the first byte of data sent from the web server.
Page speed started out as a metric for determining how quickly a user can access the content they requested. However, over time, it has developed into a significant ranking factor and a notable indicator of a website’s overall user experience.
Reasons to Boost Your Page Speed
As a major ranking factor with a critical role in ensuring positive user experience, page speed can make or break a website. Any business with an online presence should pay close attention to their website’s load speed for many reasons.
Page Speed and First Impressions
The first impression visitors have of your website is based on its page speed. Before they can appreciate your site’s design or find out what you have to offer, they have to wait for your web page to load.
Consumers these days, they’re not a patient bunch. A negative first experience can turn them off and make them not want to interact with your website again.
Page Speed and User Experience
Whenever they go online, people expect the information they require to be available right away. The last thing that customers would want when they visit your website is to wait for the content to load. If you keep them waiting too long, they’re likely to give up, hit the “back” button, and try another site.
Page Speed and SEO
Google announced in 2020 that it will begin using “core web vitals” as a ranking factor, with page speed at its core.
Core Web Vitals evaluates the speed with which a website loads, its interactivity, and the visual stability of its content, with the overall score affecting your ranking. A slow page speed can have a direct effect on your SERP position and an indirect effect on your SEO via poor user experience signals. In other words, a slow website can significantly reduce the amount of traffic to your site and eventually kill your business.
Page Speed and Conversions
Page load time can influence user experience and the ranking of your website, which means it also has an effect on conversions and bottom-line results.
A site that loads quickly attracts a large amount of traffic. It is likely to achieve a high search engine ranking and become immediately accessible to a large audience. Additionally, when users feel at ease using a website and have confidence in the company’s ability to deliver on its promises, they become more inclined to buy, leading to higher conversion rate. Any business that wants to be financially successful should capitalize on their page speed to convert more visitors into paying customers.
Guest article written by: Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of SEOPhoenix.net. Shawn started his career in I.T. troubleshooting workstations, servers and networks, then went on to doing SEO as a side project and quickly found success in ranking websites. It was easy for him to grasp not only the algorithms but also the technical side which most SEO strategists miss and neglect because of its complexities. SEO Phoenix then grew based on its own rankings and referrals.