Why Page Speed is Important for SEO

As a top SEO company, we at SEO Werkz are constantly looking for tweaks to help improve your online marketing performance. Our SEO services include the full range of areas, including many that other companies may overlook at times.

One such area is page speed, which has a major effect on SEO for both web and mobile pages. Let’s go over why page speed matters, and some potential causes of low page speed on your site.

Why it Matters to Google

In 2010, Google announced it would regard page speed as a ranking factor for SEO. This was part of their overall emphasis on high-quality user experience, and page speed is a big part of this.

If a site loads quickly, there’s a higher chance that users will remain on the site – they’re more likely to experience something positive. And while slow rankings will hurt your site, there are degrees here: Only extremely slow sites will result in a major penalization from the page speed factor.

Why it Matters to Customers

However, page speed also matters to the visitors on your site. Positive user experience is directly linked to a higher rate of conversions. A fast website allows visitors to quickly understand what products or services you offer, and allows them to complete order forms in short order. It will also help visitors navigate from page to page if you generate revenue from ads, increasing your total page views per user.

Poor Load Time Causes

A small decrease in page speed can lead to a big loss in conversion rate, as people will be more likely to abandon your site. Poor load time may be a result of several factors:

• Unoptimized browser, app or plugins: Apps using Flash rather than HTML5, for instance, can lower page speed. Test your page speed in different browsers.
• Too many ads: This will both bother your visitors and lower your page speed.
• Complex theme: Your website’s theme can affect load time in some cases. Heavy images may seriously lower loading speeds.
• Dense code: Your HTML or CSS web code impacts your load time, so consider cleaning it up for better performance.
• Cheap host: Host performance often depends on how much you can pay – a cheap host can lead to poor performance.
• Widgets: Things like social buttons, comments areas, calendars and other widgets can have an impact on speed.
• Embedded media: Videos from outside sites can be valuable for linking, but may lower your speed. If you can save these on your host, this may save you time.

For more on page speed and its importance, or to learn about any of our SEO services, contact the experts at SEO Werkz today.