You may have heard the expression “speed kills,” but when it comes to your website, it’s the other way around. A website that takes too long to load will cause you to lose customers, decrease your conversion rate, and lower your visibility in organic Google searches.
There are several design factors that influence page loading speed, and it’s your digital marketer’s job to design and maintain a website that loads as quickly as possible on all types of devices, including computers, tablets, and smartphones.
What Is Page Speed?
Page speed is the number of seconds it takes for a page to become visible and interactive on your device from the moment you click its link. Slow page speed is particularly annoying, and many users will simply exit a site that takes too long to load.
The number of users who leave a website without taking any action is known as the bounce rate. The longer it takes for your page to load, the higher your bounce rate will be.
Users react negatively when your site doesn’t load quickly enough. According to Google, when someone is trying to access your website using a computer, an increase in loading time from one to three seconds increases the bounce rate by 32 percent, and an increase in loading time from one to five seconds increases the bounce rate by 106 percent.
Why You Should Be Concerned About Your Legal Website’s Page Speed
Your website is the public face of your company. People will make immediate assumptions about your firm based on the way your site functions. When your site loads quickly, it encourages visitors to stay and check out your services.
People are impatient, and they have a lot of things to do. Consumers are accustomed to getting results on the internet right away. You won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. The amount of time that people are forced to wait for your page to load negatively affects their willingness to purchase your services.
What Are Google’s Ranking Factors?
Google has explicitly stated that page speed is an important ranking factor, which is the criteria Google uses to determine the order in which a page will appear on a search engine results page (SERP).
Other important ranking factors include:
- Internal linking
- Mobile optimization
- Domain age
- Keyword placement
- URL structure
- Unique content
- Ease of navigation
- Incoming links from prominent and relevant websites
When a user finds a page using a search engine and then exits the page right away, it’s called pogo-sticking. Although Google maintains that pogo-sticking is not a ranking factor, the practice will negatively influence the number of searchers directed to your website from Google queries.
Why Google Rewards Fast Loading Speed
One of Google’s major objectives is to provide a satisfying and enjoyable experience for its users, and user experience (UX) is clearly enhanced when your website has a fast page speed. Pages with a fast loading speed provide the following benefits to Google and its customers:
- Providing a pleasurable UX
- Improving website crawling
- Allowing Google to index more sites
- Answering user queries
- Allowing Google to attract more overall users
- Reducing Google’s operating costs
How Website Design Affects Loading Speed
If your site doesn’t load quickly, you’ll want to have your digital marketer address the situation right away. They can run tests to pinpoint the issue.
Your website may have been built by someone who provided poor site infrastructure. If this is the case, then you will want to find a digital marketer who can fix the problem. Design factors that cause slow page speed include:
- Poorly written code
- Too many large files
- Poorly compressed images
- Too many plugins and widgets
- Improperly embedded videos
- Too many page redirects
Want a Faster Website?
At SLS Consulting, Inc., we can fix your slow website or build you a new one. Our team would be happy to sit down with you and go over your options.
Call (323) 254-1510 to learn more today.
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