Page Load Speed Matters

It seems like forever ago when Google hit the search engine scene and almost overnight seemed to corner what felt like an already settled market. Thinking about it now, Google won because it was not only providing the most relevant search results, but also because they clearly cared about speed and could deliver those results almost instantaneously.

Speed mattered at the time because bandwidth was a super premium. Google had captured our hearts and capitalized on our love with ever-increasing AdWords profits. In the meantime, broadband build-out expanded and, in the same way that relic programming lives on in Microsoft product, those building websites lost sight of the importance of page load speed for UX and for a number of search related reasons. Bulked up sites now stand out to us because they are noticeably slower – remember the old Flash sites that had a load progress bar? Let’s take a look at some of the reasons page load speed matters.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Many experts in SEO note that page load speed is one of the top six factors influencing website SEO performance. Google, Yahoo, Bing, and others recognize the importance of load experience to the user. Because of this, Google gives preference to pages that perform. It’s so important to them they have developed a speed test that you can do right now. Here’s the LINK.

While an quick page load speed will not get you a Google 1 position, it becomes part of the overall page strategy. Recognizing there are more than 200 rank relevant items for Google, if you are in close competition for a rank, it may be the edge you need to push you over the top.

User Experience

With the release of IOS 9, several sites that have been in my top 10 arsenal for years suddenly encounter stacked page load errors. So much so, that I don’t even try to access them on my iPad anymore. This translates to fewer visits altogether from all users.

I imagine that same rule applies to those trying to access your page and experiencing a page load delay. Either they think they are about to enter ludditeville, they think something is wrong, or they simply bounce. Who wants to wait around when I can find this info or a similar company somewhere else?

Mobile

Mobile network speeds are catching up, but the move to mobile has created an interesting backward access speed problem. As fiber optic networks like Google Fiber or Comcast’s Gigabite Pro have pushed broadband speeds into uncharted territory, tons of traffic has shifted from the conventional wired connection to 3G and 4G wireless. The wireless speeds are improving, but many sites have been exposed for their slow page loads. And knowing that most users will bounce after 2 seconds (I still say more like 1 second), if you aren’t mindful of the mobile experience, you might be missing out.

So I think we can all agree that page speed is important, but what can I do about it?

• Check how your site is performing at Google Insights
• Reduce image sizes
• Maximize caching opportunities with browsers
• Limit social media and blog plugin-ins
• Design for the mobile user
• Limit redirects – too many can hinder speed
• Eliminate unnecessary Javascript