What is page speed and how does it affect user experience and SEO?

What is page speed?

Page speed, also known as loading speed, is the time it takes for a web page to fully load in the user's browser. This includes everything from loading the HTML code to loading images, videos, scripts and other elements. Page speed is often measured in seconds, and as you might have guessed: the shorter, the better.

Several tools are available, such as Google's PageSpeed Insights, to measure the speed of your website. These tools analyse how long a page takes to fully load and also provide tips to optimise loading time.

Why is page speed important for user experience?

People are impatient online. When a page takes too long to load, visitors often click away quickly. According to several studies, almost half of visitors leave a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load. This means that a slow website leads directly to loss of potential customers or visitors.

Page speed directly affects the user experience. A fast website allows users to navigate smoothly, access the information they are looking for quickly and browse pages without frustration. This increases the chances that they will stay on your website longer and visit more pages. In contrast, a slow-loading website can lead to a negative experience, and at worst, a bad impression of your brand.

How does page speed affect SEO?

Apart from a good user experience, page speed is also important for search engine optimisation (SEO). Google and other search engines want to offer users the best results, not only based on content, but also on usability. This is why Google takes website loading speed into account in its ranking algorithms.

If your website is slow, it could cause you to appear lower in search results. This is particularly important because research shows that most people do not look beyond the first page of search results. So by improving your page speed, you increase the chances of your website ranking better in Google, leading to more organic traffic.

In addition, in 2018, Google introduced the "mobile-first index", where the mobile version of a website is the primary version used for ranking. Since mobile users often rely on less stable internet connections, fast loading time on mobile has become even more important.

Factors affecting page speed

Now that we know why page speed is so important, let's look at the factors that can affect loading speed:

• File size of images: Large images can significantly slow down loading time. It is essential to compress images and use them in modern file formats such as WebP.
• Hosting: The quality of your hosting provider plays a big role in the speed of your website. A fast server will make your pages load faster, while a cheap, slow server can cause delays.
• Code optimisation: Unnecessary or outdated scripts and unoptimised CSS can increase load times. Minimising your HTML, CSS and JavaScript files can make a big difference here.
• Browser caching: Enabling caching allows frequently used elements of your website (such as images and scripts) to be temporarily stored in the user's browser, reducing loading time on future visits.
• Redirects: Too many redirects can negatively affect the speed of your website. Each redirect adds extra time before the page loads.

How do you improve your website's page speed?

Fortunately, there are several ways to optimise the loading speed of your website:

• Optimise images: Use optimised images in formats such as WebP and make sure they scale automatically for different devices.
• Use caching: Both on the server and in the browser, you can enable caching to store frequently used elements and load them faster.
  Reduce the number of HTTP requests: The more files a page has to load (think images, CSS, JavaScript), the slower the page becomes. Combine files where possible or use asynchronous load times.
• Upgrade your hosting plan: Consider investing in a better hosting provider or even using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to deliver content from servers around the world.

Conclusion: page speed is crucial for your website

A fast loading time is essential for a good user experience as well as for your position in search results. By investing in optimising your page speed, you not only create satisfied users, but also better visibility in Google. It can make a difference in the number of leads you generate through your website.

Want to improve the loading speed of your website but don't know where to start? Contact us today, and we are happy to help you make your website faster and more effective.