Website Speed is Important for Google.
There’s a lot that goes into building a successful website. The design and content are, of course, the most important factors — if you don’t have those aspects watertight, then you’ll find it difficult to have any level of success. But even if you do have those things, you may still struggle. If the SEO part of your website isn’t on point, then you’ll likely struggle to get the number of visitors that you’d like to get.
There are many different things that contribute to a website’s SEO credibility and success, including how fast the pages load. In this blog, we’re going to take an in-depth look at everything you need to know about website speed, including why it’s important, how it’ll influence the new Google update, and things you can do to improve the speed.
Better User Experience
To the untrained eye, some of Google’s algorithm choices might be a little confusing. However, once you know what Google looks for in websites, then things become a lot clearer. Google’s mission is to point users to the best site possible and to ensure that the user will have a positive experience when they click through from the results page. And of course, it would be difficult to have a positive experience if the site was loading too slowly.
Why Users Want It
Having a website that users like can create a positive feedback loop. If they like what they see, then you’ll move up the SEO rankings, which will drive more visitors, who will like what they see, and so on and so on. While it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what users want, it’s pretty easy to say what they don’t want — and to that category, we can definitely add ‘slow-loading pages.’ Studies have shown that just a three-second delay in loading time can make people think twice about whether they really want to stay on the site. You’ll know from your own internet use how annoying a slow-loading site can be! So, by improving your load time, you’ll ensure that there’s no excuse for your visitors to leave.
Google Algorithm Update and Page Speed
Google updates the algorithm they use to rank websites from time to time. And a new one is coming. Announced in May 2020, the new update will be rolled out slowly over the summer. There’ll be a number of changes, including one that focuses on page speed. Google is placing greater emphasis on a site’s Core Web Vitals (sometimes called CWV for short). Part of those vitals is speed. If your site is loading too quickly, then you’ll be penalised!
It’s important to remember that there are some caveats where it’s OK to have a slow-loading site. The first page can load a little slower than the others, for instance. It’s when the website is loaded when everything should be speedy. If every page is loading slowly, then the SEO success of the site will be compromised.
How Fast Does It Need to Be?
It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get your site to load in the blink of an eye. For starters, that’s not always in your hands! However, if you suspect that your site might be loading more slowly than it should, then it’ll be important to take action. 53% of mobile web users will leave a site if it takes more than three seconds to load!
Factors That Influence Website Speed
So now that we’ve thought about the importance of page loading speed, let’s think about what influences how fast a site will load. Some of the key things that will contribute to a slow website include unoptimized images, using heavy-duty apps (such as flash), having themes and web designs that are overly complicated, and too many embedded videos, among others.
How to Improve Website Speed
So how can you improve your website speed? Plenty of ways! Ensuring you have a high-quality, capable host server (including ones in different countries if yours is a global audience), that your images are optimised, and that you don’t have too many complicated plugins will all help.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, there are plenty of things that contribute to ranking high on Google. In order to ensure that your SEO is as robust as possible, it’s important that you work with a dedicated SEO company, like us here at Direct Submit. We have the knowledge, expertise, and experience.
