Businesses frequently put page speed optimisation on the back burner, believing that their site speed symbolises the overall performance of their website.
Regrettably, this is not the case.
There is a significant difference between site speed and page speed, and it might influence your bounce rate and organic rank.
So, what is the difference?
Site speed is the average of a sample of load times for a few pages on your site and hence is not a very detailed means of measuring your site’s actual performance. Page speed is the time it takes for a given page on your website to load or how long it takes for your information and graphics to appear. Testing each page, especially your most essential pages, might identify significant problems and shortcomings in your site’s performance.
Page speed is (presumably) a significant ranking element in Google’s algorithm. Not only does it influence ranking, but it also influences user experience (Google may claim that “experience” and “rank” are inexorably related). Pages that take too long to load might raise your bounce rate and decrease your average session duration, resulting in fewer interactions and poorer conversions.
That is why it is critical to discover what is causing your website’s pages to load slowly and utilise practical tools and strategies to improve your page performance. Implementing such adjustments can boost your rankings and your all-important conversion rate as a result of a better user experience.
Before we go into how to accomplish it and which tools will be most helpful, let’s go through the advantages.
1. Better User Experience
If you’ve ever clicked on a site and it seems to take forever to load, your patience will run thin, and you’ll leave to find a site that really loads the answers you want. A bounce occurs when a visitor instantly hits the “back” button to exit the site, and you don’t want that to happen to your visitors. When your bounce rate is high, it suggests that users aren’t spending as much time on your site, and the shorter they remain, the less likely they are to convert.
2. More Pages Indexed By Google
The longer it takes for content to display, the less likely it is that Google will find that content. Page speed can also be affected by the number of redirects that take place; if there are a lot of redirects between multiple server requests, that can slow down your page speed.
If you want your website to rank higher, it makes sense to eliminate any unnecessary redirects and reduce the number of server requests.
3. Better Conversion Rates
Visitors are more likely to arrive to your site, stay longer, and convert when you make your site fast. According to studies, for every 100ms of improvement, a company’s site can increase its conversions by 5%. It’s hard to argue with numbers like that.
4. Improved Site Search Rankings
You might have noticed that we’ve already mentioned Google’s connection between page loading speed and user experience, which certainly plays into their ranking algorithm. Google has also stated (and hinted) that site search ranking is a factor of page speed; when your site is fast, it’s easier for Google to find your pages, making them more likely to appear in the search results.
5. More Traffic
The number of people visiting your site will increase when your site performs better. And how do you boost your traffic?
You optimise every aspect of your site, from the layout to the coding to the images to the way you format content. The single most significant factor for improving your bounce rate, session duration and number of conversions is your page speed. Optimising your page load speed is the single biggest thing you can do to increase your number of visitors and the quality of those visitors.
Conclusion
Site speed undoubtedly affects your rankings, bounce rate, and conversion rate. If your website is slow, users will likely leave, decreasing traffic and conversions.
If you’re not sure that your strategies are working, consult your local SEO expert. The SEO Room is a marketing agency in Perth that aims to help you find creative solutions to your SEO problems. Get in touch with us today!
