Web developers often spend lots of time optimizing page speed to boost user experiences. And the reasons for this aren’t far-fetched. First, a slow website simply frustrates users (poor UX). It can also hurt website owners by leaving a bad impression of their brand before the website completely loads. This article explores why website performance matters, plus how speed can directly influence your page visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
What Is Website Performance and How Can I Measure It?
There are at least four major aspects of website performance. They include performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO.
For a quick check on your website’s performance, consider running it through online web performance checkers like Google’s PageSpeed Insights (PSI) and Core Web Vitals to see how it fares. And there are two ways to achieve this.
On the one hand, you can visit the PageSpeed Insights website directly and paste your website link for a report. If you choose this method, ensure to test as many pages as possible for a holistic view of your website’s performance.
On the flip side, you can use Chrome dev tools by right-clicking on your website and choosing “Inspect”. Afterward, you can navigate to a Lighthouse tab to run a performance check for your page. If you choose this method, consider inspecting your site in an incognito browser. That’s because an incognito browser also takes into account any other Chrome extensions you may have installed.
Is Page Speed a Ranking Factor?
There are arguments around whether or not pages that load quickly get boosted in Google search rankings. Speed reflects how swiftly a page loads after a user clicks a link in search results.
Many users simply assume that Google ranks fast-loading pages ahead of others since they want to serve users with topnotch user experiences. However, others argue that an SERP with lightning-fast links could exclude slower but more relevant pages.
Here are the facts. Google repeatedly ranks “relevance” as a top ranking factor for websites. If fast-loading pages automatically outrank others, they may push down more relevant content that better answers a concern, putting searchers at a disadvantage.
But there’s more. According to a 2010 announcement, Google said its algorithm would begin incorporating site speed when determining search results rankings. The search engine giant first applied the change to desktop search results, and waited till 2018 before applying page speed as a ranking factor for mobile SERPs.
However, in April 2023, Google refreshed its documented ranking systems page, taking out the “page experience” system as a ranking criterion. Notwithstanding, Google carefully explained elsewhere in the document that its algorithms directly reward good page experience signals. Google reportedly updated its ranking criteria to better reward pages with “experience, authoritativeness, and reliability based on semantic analysis, rather than quantitative metrics.
Meanwhile, Google’s page experience documentation clarified that page speed may or may not be relevant within the system. That shows that it still considers page speed a potential ranking factor. However, it may not always be highly impactful.
At its core, Google’s SERP ranking philosophy has always prioritized relevance over other features. However, that doesn’t take away the importance of page performance either. Page experience informs the way users engage with content, and algorithms reward good page experience metrics like swift-loading times.
Moreover, a faster website leads to better user engagement, increased conversion rates, and swifter search engine rankings. Slow loading times, on the other hand, can lead to increased bounce rates, frustrate users, and ultimately impair a platform’s success and visibility.
Conclusion
Studies show that users expect websites to load within two to three seconds. However, three seconds still sounds like a lot in a world where the average attention span keeps getting lower than ever. That makes website speed a significant web performance metric, especially when comparing two websites with similar performances on other relevant metrics.
On the one hand, offering speed at the expense of quality does a disservice to users. However, improved page experience – and speed – improves user engagement, potentially increasing a platform’s ranking on Google’s SERPs. To maximize your platform’s ranking on Google’s SERP, consider speeding up the website loading times to ensure users stay engaged, explore your content, and act on your CTAs.