Page speed has stayed as a ranking factor for a time now. The interesting thing is, its importance in determining rankings has been growing with each year. The thing that initiated as a mere practice has become a critical factor now. Page speed was first started to measure the speed at which a web page delivers the requested content to users. But now, it’s used to determine the site’s user experience.
On top of that, Google releases the page experience update in last year’s (2021) summer to improve the current algorithm.
What is Page Speed?
Pagespeed is stated as the time a page takes to deliver the entire content on it. Or, it can also be measured as the time the server takes to deliver the first batch of information to a browser.
A lot of things affect the page speed. The list includes the HTML code, its CSS, the JavaScript files, graphics on it, and many others. In short, everything from the size of the element to the speed of its host’s server is used in measuring the page speed. The measuring of pagespeed is done separately for different devices particularly desktop and mobile. As the difference in their technology is huge, the speed differs too.
PageSpeed and Site Speed
The terms are quite similar and relative to an extent but they surely have significant differences. Site speed calculates the mean speed of various pages on the site. Whereas, pagespeed states how much time a web page takes to deliver its content to the user.
Learn: how to improve pagespeed
Why Is Page Speed Important?
It’s pretty simple, if a visitor gets the desired content faster, the user experience will be better.
Recent surveys have stated that if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load, around a quarter of visitors leave. They go back and choose a different result more probably your competitor’s one. This will increase your bounce rate and will drag your site down more.
In the same survey, it was found that page speed on mobile versions is quite important too. As mobile-first indexing is already on the run, page speed for mobile version becomes more important. Walmart has stated that they improved their page speed and saw an incredible jump in conversion rate.
Also, pagespeed is critical for SEO today more than ever before.
In 2010, Google came up with the idea of page speed and said that from now it will be a ranking factor too.
Read about an SEO Tool: Mozbar extension
Then In 2017, Google highlighted the value of pagespeed. As they introduced mobile-first indexing, they announced that “mobile-first” pages would have an advantage. Or, pages that focus on mobile page speed can see a positive bump in rankings.
Then, recently Google raised the importance of user experience as they announced Page experience as a ranking signal.
Page experience collects data such as mobile-friendliness and safe browsing to evaluate web pages. So, now the behavior and experience of a visitor on your site can have a great impact on your SERP rankings.
And as you can guess, pagespeed is among the most crucial elements that determine page experience.
Conclusion
PageSpeed might look like a small thing, but in recent times it has become a big deal. And after the announcement of Page experience as a ranking factor, you just can’t ignore it. On top of that, mobile-first indexing makes sure you don’t overlook your mobile version’s page speed. So, if pagespeed is not on your SEO checklist, it’s time to make a new list.
Related Article: Why is Digital Marketing Important for Business?
