We wrote in our last post that site speed is everything! Speeding up your site is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your site, and yes! Site speed influences SEO! In many ways actually.
To summarize, we said that:
· Site speed is a ranking factor
· Fast sites are easier to crawl
· Fast loading sites have higher conversion rates
· It reduces bounce rates
· It improves general user experience (less stress!)
In this post, let’s go a bit more in-depth to help you understand these different points so that you can make the most of your website.
Site speed is a ranking factor
Google has said time and again that a fast site helps you to rank better. We can see this from Google’s recent activity when they launched the so-called ‘Speed Update’ making site speed a ranking factor for mobile searches.
Google stressed it would only affect the slowest sites and that fast sites getting faster won’t get a boost, but it just goes to show that they are definitely looking at site speed as a ranking factor across the board.
Loading times influence crawling
Modern sites are expansive, and not always in a good way. Sometimes, trying to sort out the backend and frontend of a site can be quite the project. Just like a car, all the pieces need to be clean and run smoothly for the car to run properly. Your website is the same. – To get your site running smoothly, fix your site structure, clean up old and outdated posts and bring those redirects in order. Invest in a better plan and turn those servers into finely tuned machines. (Feel the hum of your site 😊).
The bigger your site is, the more impact performing speed optimizations will have. Speed optimizations don’t just impact user experience and conversion rates but it also affects crawl budget and crawl rate. If your servers are fast, Googlebot can come around more often and get more done.
Fast loading sites have higher conversion rates and lower bounce rates
Your goal should be to be the fastest site in your niche. Be faster than your competitors. Having a site or an e-commerce platform that takes ages to load won’t do you any good. People hit that back button in a split second, never to return. That is NOT good for your bounce rate!
By offering a fast site you are not only working on improving your conversion rate, but you’re also building trust and brand loyalty. Think of all the times you’ve been cursing the screen because you had to wait for a page to load — again — or been running in circles because the user experience was atrocious — again. It happens so often — don’t be that site.
Site speed improves the user experience
You may not realize it, but your site’s speed plays a major role in your customer experience. It’s the first impression of your brand.
Did you know that people experience real stress when experiencing mobile delays and that it’s the same type of stress as watching a scary movie?
SERIOUSLY?!
That’s what they say at Ericsson Research. Improving your site speed across the board means making people happy, and happy is good!
Customers will enjoy using your site, tend to buy more and will most definitely come back more often. In turn, Google will see your site as a great search result because you are delivering the goods when it comes to site quality which eventually, you might get a nice ranking boost.
It’s a win-win situation!
Optimizing your site is not just looking at numbers
Optimizing your site for speed is not as simple as getting a good score in all those site speed test tools. Don’t blind yourself on scores and metrics. Most tests emulate an unrealistic environment. But guess what? The real world matters even more.
Every user is different. Every visitor uses a different type of internet connection, device, and browser. Use Google Analytics to find out who your users are, how they access your site and what they do while they’re there and adjust your site, services or product offerings accordingly.
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