How Can Page Speed Impact SEO?
As society becomes more tech-savvy, consumers are becoming more and more impatient. People used to wait up to five seconds for a site to load, but now the average wait time before leaving the site is around two seconds. People expect websites to load without making them wait, and they do not have time to waste.
Page Speed and its Importance
Page speed is an important factor that impacts whether a potential customer will stay on your website or not. But what exactly is page speed and why does it matter?
Page speed is how fast a specific page loads on your website. Each individual page may have different loading speeds because of the differences in content for each page, such as plugins or images. As mentioned, it is essential that your website has a fast and quality page speed in order to ensure people do not leave your website.
User Experience
A user’s positive or negative experience on your website is directly impacted by the page and site speed. As discussed, most people will log off from a site if the page they are looking for does not load within a couple of seconds because they do not want to wait, especially if other websites can provide the same information faster. For consumers, a faster webpage is a better one. This allows competitors of your site to take over potential clients.
SERP and SEO
When it comes to the search engine results pages (SERP), Google prioritizes speed. This allows sites with faster page speeds to be ranked higher than those with slower page speeds, as load time is directly related to consumer experience.
Even if you have an amazingly curated website with everything a client may need, if your page is not loading within the window that people will stay on, your clients will not get a chance to see all your hard work. It is important to recognize that page speed has a significant impact on SEO, since it is a factor Google considers when ranking webpages.
Google’s algorithm is constantly changing, which is why it is sometimes difficult to keep up. BluShark Digital can help you with your practice. Contact us today to learn about specialized SEO strategies for your practice.