The Importance of Site Speed for SEO
Google considers site loading speeds as one of the top factors in determining the placement of a website in its search results. Even if it were not one of the top factors, you must also keep in mind that people do not like to wait for sizes to load. Knowing this, let’s take a look at how site speed matters in 2014.
Google Thinks Sites Should Be Fast
When it comes to figuring out just how important site speed is to SEO, it is important to consider how Google feels about site speed. Google’s search algorithm tends to rank sites higher that have clean code and will download quickly. This became initially clear back in 2011 when Google announced a tool called Page Speed Online. Page Speed Online looks at how web pages perform and figures out suggestions for making them load more quickly. The Page Speed Online tool can be used with any browser. It also gives instant test results so that the suggestions are available immediately to webmasters.
Google thinks fast loading times are even more important for mobile sites. There is clear evidence that Google penalizes sites that load slowly on mobile devices. If you improve your site’s loading time, you will find that the amount of organic traffic to your website will grow and in addition, you will find that your site’s ranking in the search engines is higher as well.
User Experience and Site Speed
The user experience for a site is improved when pages load faster. This trend has been well documented and the reason is because faster site loading times simply make it easier for visitors to browse your website and find the information that they need. By helping users find the information that they need faster, they will be more inclined to make faster purchase decisions. This means higher sales and more conversions on your website.
Ecommerce websites typically suffer from high shopping cart abandonment rates. Part of the reason for this problem is that sites that load slowly simply make it harder to complete a purchase. The end result is that these users leave the site to pursue a purchase elsewhere.
What Is a Good Site Loading Time?
When it comes to optimizing your site, research studies have indicated that over half of the sites on the internet load in two seconds or less. This means that you should probably optimize your site so that you can beat that time by as much as possible. Other studies have shown that during peak internet traffic times, visitors will opt to go to a competitor’s site if the loading times on a site are too long. Therefore, when it comes to converting traffic online, every second counts literally!
If you are trying to increase your site speed, Infintech Designs can help. We can isolate any issues that may be causing your site to load quickly as well as assist you with your on-page SEO for better results. Click here to request a free site review today!
