You think your site’s fast, but does Google think it’s fast? Since late 2010, Google has considered site speed in its organic search-ranking algorithm. Site speed matters for SEO, and affects indexation, traffic, rankings, conversions, engagement, and, ultimately, nearly every facet of online marketing.
If your site lags behind, you may find yourself farther down on the search engine rankings than you would like. What’s more, pages with a longer load time tend to have higher bounce rates and lower average time on page. Your customers basically stop reading move along to your competitor’s site because they don’t want to wait. And right there, I’m sorry to say, you just lost a quality lead.
Breaking it down further, here are a few reasons to pay attention to site speed:
- Google thinks it’s important.
If Google thinks it’s important, marketers should think it’s important. Google’s goal is “to make the whole web fast.” It created Page Speed Online, accessible via Google Labs, to help users analyze a website’s performance.If page speed is a factor in Google’s algorithm, it goes without saying that improved site speed will improve your ranking.
- Customers think it’s important.
As mentioned, people don’t like to wait—in lines, for a dinner table, or for your page to load. One Amazon study showed a one percent decrease in sales for every 0.1s decrease in response time. Other studies show that most customers expect pages to load in two seconds or less.If your site doesn’t hit the two-second mark, your visitors won’t stick around and likely won’t return.Modesto Siotos reports for Moz that fast-loading sites can increase conversions and sales. Walmart reported that sales drop as page loading time increases. Every second lost or gained means either increased or decreased conversions. Mozilla saw a 15.4 increase in conversions when it shaved two seconds off its landing pages. Even a small increase in speed can yield big results in revenue.Faster site speed means a better user experience. Customers will stay on your page longer and finish what they started. This has a direct impact on conversion rate, lead generation, and revenue.
- It affects mobile more.
As mentioned, people don’t like to wait—in lines, for a dinner table, or for your page to load. One Amazon study showed a one percent decrease in sales for every 0.1s decrease in response time. Other studies show that most customers expect pages to load in two seconds or less.If your site doesn’t hit the two-second mark, your visitors won’t stick around and likely won’t return.Modesto Siotos reports for Moz that fast-loading sites can increase conversions and sales. Walmart reported that sales drop as page loading time increases. Every second lost or gained means either increased or decreased conversions. Mozilla saw a 15.4 increase in conversions when it shaved two seconds off its landing pages. Even a small increase in speed can yield big results in revenue.Faster site speed means a better user experience. Customers will stay on your page longer and finish what they started. This has a direct impact on conversion rate, lead generation, and revenue.
We walk our talk
At Galileo Tech Media, we’re not just talking about site speed. Our ace programming team spent a ridiculous amount of time honing our site to make it Usain Bolt fast. Check it out!
We pass the Google server response test—its benchmark is 200ms—with flying colors.
We devote the same level of attention to speed when we develop new sites, landing pages, and web/mobile apps for our clients. We know a site that meets the 200ms benchmark will reap stellar SEO benefits, which affects all areas of marketing and advertising, from social media to web and mobile ads.
Stay tuned for part two of this article—tips and tools to unleash your site’s inner Usain Bolt.
