How important is page speed for ranking on search engines? While there is a matter of debate as to the degree of this importance, everyone agrees that page speed is nonetheless a key ranking factor. If you aren’t taking this factor seriously, as far as your own website or business is concerned, you should take steps to change this at once.
Let’s break down everything you need to know about page speed. From there, it will be easier to understand how to improve the page speed of your website for Google or any other search engine.
Page Speed Explained
The first thing we’re going to want to do is define page speed as a concept.
Page speed can be defined in one or both of the following ways:
- The amount of time required for all of the content on a particular page to be displayed.
- The amount of time required for a browser to obtain the first piece of information from a server.
Every single page element plays a role in this process. The videos, images, HTML code, and everything else associated with the website will define the loading speed of the page to one degree or another. If one or more of these areas is being impacted, performance will suffer.
Is There A Difference In Page Speed For Mobile And Desktop Devices?
Yes, page speed is measured differently on a desktop device, as opposed to how it is measured on your mobile device.
What proves to be particularly interesting about this is how prevalent mobile devices have become, over the past decade. An increasing number of
SEO experts are suggesting that with the rise in popularity of mobile devices, optimizing a webpage for search engines means paying particular attention to how fast a page loads on the latest mobile devices.
Is Page Speed The Same As Site Speed?
Good question! The answer is no!
With page speed, we’re talking about a single page on your website. With site speed, we’re referring the overall speed of the entire website.
Why Does Page Speed Matter So Much?
The answer to this question is pretty straightforward. Both page and overall site speed play a massive role in the overall user experience. Do
you enjoy spending time on a website where one or several pages take seemingly forever to load?
For most people, if a website takes more than 3 seconds to load, they will move on.
In the present, Google is utilizing a process known as Page Experience as the foundation for the signals associated with ranking. Core Web Vitals are now being considered alongside the standard criteria, such as how well the site works on a mobile device.
Which Metrics Define Page Speed?
Here are the three main ones to remember:
- Largest Contentful Paint: Refers to the amount of time for the page to load
- First Input Delay: Refers to the response time for interactivity with the webpage
- Cumulative Layout Shifts: Refers to the visual stability of the user’s experience
How Can I Improve My Page Speed?
Let’s wrap things up with a few quick suggestions to help you figure out what you might need to do:
- Too many JavaScript pieces are being rendered
- Too many responsive/DPI images on your site
- Any CSS or Java codes in your HTML, if they aren’t being used, can slow down your website
If you’re serious about improving the speed of your website, start by checking out
Google Lighthouse.
PageSpeed Insights is another resource that can prove useful.
Even if you can improve the speed of your website by just a single second, this will be a step in the right direction.