How long do you think a visitor would wait for your website to load?
Initial impressions are always critical on the web. Visitors often form instant judgments based on what they see first.
So, a page that loads faster makes a stronger first impression. On the contrary, it makes the visitors assume that the business may be unprofessional and leaves a negative impression if it does not. It’s pure psychology!
However, according to studies, most people don’t even wait 2 seconds for the page content to pop-up! Sure, a recurring visitor might still give you the benefit of the doubt if they know your services are worthy and meaningful to them. But that wouldn’t be the case with every visitor and at all times. The potential audience isn’t coming back if they don’t get what they want.
This why you must ensure your website page speed doesn’t lag – it makes a big difference with user experience, sales and conversions, and, most importantly, search engine optimization!
What Lowers Page Speed?
A high performing page relies on efficient optimizations. But what results in a poor load time are high DPI images, cheap web hosting, too many advertisements, unoptimized plugins, embedded videos, other large downloadable files, unnecessary JavaScript scripts, and any dense CSS/ HTML/ JS codes.
Webmasters design pages to be used once the entire content is loaded. But for users, that above the fold content is essential, plus it gives the browser the time to load the rest of the stuff.
A page that’s slow has a long-term impact on your natural growth. People stop referring you and are more likely to choose established sites, which eventually hurts your online presence. This brings us to the next important section …
How Page Speed Matters To Google?
Site speed may not carry as much weight, but here’s the catch – Google does reduce crawlers that are sent to your site if the server is super slow. It regards speed as a significant ranking signal. This directly implies that Google is less likely to pick your recent updates, which will eventually harm your brand identity.
Besides, pages that load slowly tend to have a higher bounce rate and decreased average time spent on the page.
To ensure the pages load as per the standard necessities, use a credible page speed checker tool that would make a bulk or individual page speed test depending on what you choose. Tools that may come in handy for you include PageSpeed Insights, Web Page Test, OnCrawl, and more. These give a clear view of your site’s load time performances and enable you to make the needed adjustments.
Once you’re aware of the page insights, here are a few ways to help increase the site’s speed:
Takeaway
Site speed matters! It benefits SEO, enhances the users’ experience, and indeed drives more conversions. You get both free and paid website speed test toolsto ascertain where you’re lacking and what you can do to improve the overall experience.
However, it’s a bit challenging to quantify how much site speed affects your SEO precisely. This is where our role steps in! At Seorecyclers, we’re a team of SEO experts who can make things work for you. We possess years of experience and dedicate ourselves to helping clients thrive online.
If you have any questions on how to check website speed or how we can help you make a difference in your website, let us know. We’ll be happy to assist you!
