Does Page Load Speed Really Matter? How Much Can It Negatively Impact My Seo?

Have you ever clicked on a link in a Google SERP, only to find yourself staring at a blank loading screen for what feels like an eternity? What do you normally do in such a scenario: do you sit around and wait? Or do you head back to a page and click on the next link down?

Exactly.

In this article, we’re going to talk about page load speed: does it really matter? And just how much can it negatively impact your SEO? Read on and find out!

1. Does page load speed really matter?

Page load speed, contrary to popular belief, is fast becoming one of the most important aspects of a website’s onsite optimization.

As briefly touched on in the introduction, if a website takes too long to load, most modern internet users will invariably abandon the website and find a faster alternative. This is a key reason why some business websites fail…

In that light, page load speed really is important. Here are some page load speed stats that you may find alarming:

• A page load speed of between 0 and 4 seconds is best for conversions.
• The average mobile website takes 15 seconds to load!
• Conversion rates drop by 4.42% per second of load time (between 0 and 5 seconds).
• With over 50% of users abandoning a website that takes longer than 5 seconds to load.

These stats bring new depth and greater meaning to the phrase: “Time is money”.

2. How much can a slow page load speed negatively impact your SEO?

The speed at which your website loads can impact your SEO and overall performance in a number of different ways.

Page load speed is a confirmed ranking factor. Google will actively prioritize faster websites over slower websites. The fact is, Google’s users want their questions answered as quickly as possible, and as a service provider, it’s up to Google to accommodate them. In other words, if your website loads slowly, your rankings will suffer as a result.

But, it’s not just your rankings that page load speed will impact. It also impacts your bounce rate and time spent on site. While these aren’t direct ranking factors, they both demonstrate that your website visitors are clearly not having a positive user experience – which is a problem.

3. How can you improve your page load speed?

In order to get your page load speed down as much as possible, you can try the following:

• Invest in a dedicated, high-performance server to host your website.
• Use a CDN (content delivery network).
• Compress your images.
• Reduce HTTP requests.
• Minify JavaScript and CSS.
• Optimize your URL.
• Clear out your database.
• Clean media library.
• And more.

For the best results, we strongly recommend hiring an SEO firm with many years of experience in the industry. They will have technical SEO experts who can fine-tune your website and make it faster than a whippet!

4. Final thoughts: Chop chop!

Let’s quickly recap:

• Page load speed is a ranking factor.
• It also impacts the overall user experience.
• If your website takes longer than 5 seconds to load you are losing money.
• There are many ways to speed up your website.

And that about sums it up! So, get a move on and speed your website up today!