We all know that SEO is important for our website ranking. But did you know that page speed is also a major factor in SEO? In fact, Google has stated that page speed is one of their main ranking factors. And it makes sense – if your website takes forever to load, users are going to click away before they even see what you have to offer. Let’s have a look at how page speed influences SEO.
What is page speed and how can you measure it?
Page speed can be defined in two ways: page load time (the amount of time it takes between the browser’s request for a page, until the browser completes processing the content) or time to first byte (how long it takes for the browser to receive the first byte of information from the hosting server).
You can measure all the relevant speed metrics of your webpage on the PageSpeed Insight service provided by Google. According to a 2019 study by Portent, a 0-4 second load time provides the best conversion rates.
How does page speed impact SEO?
Page speed is critically important for SEO. In fact, it’s one of the most important ranking factors for Google. In today’s world of instant gratification, people are used to being able to access information with the click of a button. So, if a website takes too long to load, they are likely to just give up and go somewhere else.
Not only does this mean that you’re missing out on potential customers, but it also has an impact on your site’s bounce rate. Bounce rate is defined as the percentage of visitors who leave a webpage without performing any action. A high bounce rate is bad for SEO, as it tells Google that people aren’t finding what they’re looking for on your site.
What can I do to optimise page speed?
So, what can you do to improve your page speed? There are a number of things, but some of the most effective are:
- Making sure you’re using a good hosting provider.
- Reducing image sizes (large images can slow down your page).
- Minimising HTTP requests.
- Using a caching plugin (it will help your pages load faster by caching static files).
Finally, consider using a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN can speed up your site by delivering content from multiple servers around the world.
If you want to rank well on Google, you need to make sure your pages are fast. Page speed is an important ranking factor, and it’s one you can control. By optimising your page speed, you can improve your SEO and keep your visitors happy!
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