Have you ever clicked on a website and waited… and waited… and then just gave up? I know I have, and I’ll bet you have too. I truly believe the Internet has conditioned us to be more impatient than ever. So, if a website doesn’t load almost instantly, we’re on to the next website. And you can bet your potential customers are doing the same thing if your website is slow.
Website speed is more than just a user experience issue though. It’s something Google pays attention to and in fact, it’s a major ranking factor for SEO.
In this post, I talk about:
- What website speed is
- Why Google and users care so much about it
- How speed impacts your SEO and conversions
- Things you can do to speed up your website
What Is Website Speed?
Website speed refers to how quickly a webpage loads and becomes usable to visitors. This is often measured in two key ways:
- Page load time: The total time it takes for a webpage to fully display its content.
- Time to First Byte (TTFB): How long it takes for a browser to receive the first byte of data from the server.
Google also uses more specific metrics like:
- First Contentful Paint (FCP): When the first text or image appears.
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): When the largest text block or image is fully rendered.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): A measure of how much the page layout shifts while the page is being loaded.
Together, these metrics are part of Google’s Core Web Vitals, which help determine user experience and search rankings.
Why does website speed matter?
People Are Impatient
You might have the most beautiful website in the world, and have exactly what your visitors are looking for, but if your website doesn’t load fast enough they will never know! They’ll move on to the second best website in the world that loads fast.
- Potential customers will abandon a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Estimates of just how many people will leave a slow-loading website range from 40% to 65%. That’s a lot!
- A delay of just 1 second can reduce page views by 11% and customer satisfaction by 16% (Aberdeen Group).
Google (and other search engines!) Care About Speed
Google has used website speed as a ranking factor since 2010 for desktop and since 2018 for mobile search.
Fast-loading sites are more likely to:
- Rank higher in search results
- Keep users engaged longer
- Convert more visitors into customers
Google, and other search engines, want to provide the best possible user experience. A slow site means a poor experience, which results in lower rankings.
Speed Affects Conversions
Speed doesn’t just affect traffic, it hits your wallet, too.
- Amazon reported that every 100ms of latency cost them 1% in sales.
- Walmart found that improving load time by 1 second increased conversions by 2% (Walmart Labs).
If you want to read more about how speed affects conversions, see this blog post from Hubspot: Page Load Time Statistics [+ how to increase conversion rate].
How to Test Your Website Speed
Before you fix anything, you need to know how fast (or slow) your site really is.
Free Tools to Check:
These tools break down:
- What’s slowing your site down
- Suggestions for improvement
- Mobile vs desktop performance
How to Improve Your Website Speed
You don’t need to be a developer to make big improvements. Here are some easy DIY tips:
Optimize Your Images
Unoptimized images are one of the biggest culprits of slow websites. I see this all the time when I’m working on existing websites.
How to fix this:
- Resize images before uploading (don’t use a 3000 pixel-wide image if it only needs to be 800 pixels)
- Use the right format: WebP is faster and smaller than JPG or PNG
- Compress images using tools WP-Rocket’s Imagify, which is the WordPress plugin I normally use. Shortpixel is another popular WordPress plugin. These will also convert your images to WebP.
Extra tip: Many website builders and WordPress plugins now offer lazy loading, which only loads images as users scroll.
Use Fast Website Hosting
Your website is only as fast as the server it’s hosted on. If you’re using cheap, shared hosting, you may be sacrificing performance.
How to fix it:
- Upgrade to a better hosting plan or provider
- Look for hosting that offers SSD storage, caching, and high uptime
- Consider managed WordPress hosting if you’re on WordPress
(BigScoots is my preferred web hosting company for shared or managed WordPress hosting)
Minimize HTTP Requests
Every time someone visits your site, their browser requests files: images, stylesheets, scripts, fonts, etc. The more requests, the longer the load time.
How to fix it:
- Combine CSS and JS files where possible (WP Rocket is a WordPress plugin that can help with this)
- Use fewer fonts and font weights
- Reduce the number of plugins, especially ones that load extra scripts
Enable Browser Caching
Browser caching stores parts of your website on the visitor’s device so returning visits are faster.
How to fix it:
- On WordPress, use a caching plugin like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or LiteSpeed Cache
- If you’re using Squarespace or Wix, caching is handled automatically, but you can still optimize images and scripts
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A CDN stores copies of your website on servers around the world, delivering them from the nearest location to your visitor.
How to fix it:
- Use free options like Cloudflare
- Many web hosts (like BigScoots) include a CDN as part of their service
This can significantly speed up load times, especially for global visitors.
Reduce Redirects
A redirect is when a URL automatically sends visitors to a different URL. This is often used when a page is moved or deleted. Sometimes redirects are necessary but too many can slow your website down because each one requires your it to work harder.
How to fix it:
- Audit your site for unnecessary redirects
- Use direct internal linking instead of linking to a page that redirects
Clean Up Your Website
Too many plugins, bloated themes, and outdated code can slow down your site.
How to fix it:
- Deactivate and delete any plugins or apps you’re not using
- Use a lightweight theme
- Keep your platform, plugins, and code updated
Enable GZIP Compression
GZIP compresses your website files before sending them to the browser. This reduces the size of files, making them load faster.
How to fix it:
- Your host may already enable this (check with them)
- On WordPress, many caching plugins (including WP Rocket) enable GZIP for you
Prioritize Mobile Speed
Google uses mobile-first indexing for most websites, which means it ranks your site based on the mobile version, not the desktop one.
If your site loads quickly on desktop but drags on mobile, do what you can to speed up the mobile version.
To improve mobile speed:
- Use responsive design
- Avoid pop-ups that cover the screen
- Eliminate heavy scripts or video backgrounds on mobile
Speed Isn’t Optional
Website speed is no longer a “nice to have” feature. It’s important for:
- Keeping visitors on your site
- Ranking well in Google
- Getting more leads and sales
Even if you’re not a tech wizard, small changes can make a big difference. Start with an audit using PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. Work on the easier things like optimizing your images, and go from there.
Speed up your site, and you’ll speed up your business.
*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I’ll get a small commission if you purchase through my link.