Website owners are often preoccupied with how their website looks, missing one important factor they should consider when creating a website — speed. Unfortunately, most business owners tend to overlook this when building a website. They want to add elaborate visual elements and graphics, thinking it will attract website visitors. They don’t realize that these elements will cause their website to load slower. When this happens, customers will get annoyed with the slow page loading and look for another. As a result, your website’s bounce rate will increase.
Google’s research found that a bounce rate can increase by 32% when a web page takes three seconds to load, and this further increases by 90% when it takes up to five seconds. This only shows that even a second difference in your page speed can entirely affect the performance of your website.
To prevent your site’s bounce rate from becoming unhealthy, allow us to help you understand the importance of website page speed and how it can affect your website.
What is Website Page Speed?
The website page speed is the length of time it takes for a browser to load a web page, including its content, visual elements, and functions.
There are different factors that can affect your page speed. But to better understand the metrics used in measuring page speed, Google PageSpeed Insights uses the following Core Web Vitals:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – relates to a page’s loading performance or loading time.
- First Input Delay (FID) – measures a web page’s interactivity. This is the time it takes for a browser to respond to a user’s interaction.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – relates to the website’s visual stability. It highlights instances when a page’s layout shifts unexpectedly.
Poorly performing websites that render slowly in a browser can drive online users away. On the other hand, websites that can load quickly are likely to receive more traffic and bring in better conversion rates.
How Important is Page Speed and How It Can Affect Your Website?
As mentioned above, nobody likes a slow website. Digital.com reported that about half of visitors will abandon a website that takes more than six seconds to load, as 47% of online users expect a website to load in a couple of seconds or less. And if a page takes more than three seconds to load, 40% of them will immediately abandon it. So if your website doesn’t catch up to these numbers, you’ll likely have a high bounce rate, causing your business to lose out on many potential leads.
Aside from that, below are six reasons why page speed can affect your website:
#1 – Page Speed is a Ranking Factor.
People go to Google because they want information instantly. So if a website can deliver valuable information at fast speeds, Google is likely to rank that website higher on their search results. The search engine also confirmed in July 2018 that page speed is a ranking factor for mobile searches.
Then in May 2021, Google launched the Core Web Vitals, emphasizing the importance of “page speed” as a ranking factor for Google Search. The Core Web Vitals are metrics used by Google Pagespeed Insights to assess a website’s page speed score. These metrics include page loading time, interactivity, and visual stability, which are part of the Page Experience ranking factor.
#2 – A Fast Website Provides an Excellent User Experience.
Google’s algorithm focuses on user experience. And when it comes to website page speed, people prefer websites that load faster and show them what they need. Unbounce reported in 2019 that 75% of online users are likely to abandon a website that doesn’t load in four seconds.
Slow loading websites deliver a negative experience to website visitors, and 88% of people will not likely return to them. As a result, the website’s visibility drops and sends a bad signal about its user experience to Google.
#3 – Fast Page Speeds Create a Good First Impression.
According to Taylor & Francis Online, it only takes a person 0.05 seconds to form an opinion on your website that determines whether they want to stay or leave. And your page speed is the first impression people can get from your website.
Before website visitors can glimpse your logo or design, they will have to wait for your page to load. And if they sit there waiting too long, it creates a bad impression on your website even before they can see what you have to offer. This can badly hurt your brand and conversion as 64% of online consumers will shop elsewhere if dissatisfied with their first site visit.
#4 – A Slow Page Speed Negatively Affects Page Views.
If people aren’t staying on your website because of your page speed, you’re also losing a lot of page views. A study by Aberdeen Group found that a one-second delay in page load can lead to an 11% loss of page views. On the other hand, a separate case study by Section.io showed that users visit an average of 8.9 pages when a website page speed is two seconds, while those with an average page load time of seven seconds view only an average of 3.7 pages. These numbers explain that the faster your website page speed is, the higher the page views you can get.
#5 – Fast Page Speeds Increase Conversion Rates.
A report on page speed revealed that nearly 70% of online shoppers say a website’s loading time can affect their willingness to buy from a brand. In fact, one out of five customers will abandon a shopping cart if the pages are too slow. This is how page speed can significantly affect your business.
Even retail giants like Amazon calculated that a one-second delay in page speed could cost them $1.6 billion in sales each year. On the other hand, Google reported that slowing their search results by just four-tenths of a second could lose them 8 million daily searches.
#6 – Page Load Speed is a Ranking Factor for Mobile.
Page speed on mobile has become more important than ever. With over 90% of people worldwide using their mobile devices to go online, Google has made significant algorithm changes for mobile users. The Speed Update, for one, introduced page load speed as a ranking factor for mobile.
Page speed and optimization can future-proof your brand’s online visibility in this mobile era. To prove this, Web Tribunal reported that 64% of smartphone users expect pages to load in under four seconds.
Bottom Line
Whether your business has a website or is planning to build one, it is crucial that you understand how page speed can affect your website and digital marketing campaign. Many marketers overlook that page speed can affect their conversions, which causes their other marketing endeavors to suffer. And this is why we created this article, to share our knowledge as to why you should prioritize your website’s page speed.
Now, if you’re looking for ways to improve your website page speed, Cybertegic is a trusted marketing agency in Pasadena that can help you. We offer website speed optimization, so you don’t lose your visitors to a slow website.
With more than 10 years of experience in website development and optimization, Cybertegic can help get your website running at an optimal speed to boost your Google Search rankings and increase conversions. You can schedule a free business consultation on our website for more information about our website speed optimization services.
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