What’s the impact of web page speed on SEO?
Sometime two years back in the month of April, Google tried to transcend it’s obsession for speed to those who use the internet.
In simple words, they made the formal announcement that web page speed would henceforth affect Google rankings for your website.
Aren’t we fans of Google search because it presents all possible search results in a matter of seconds, as less as 0.25 seconds or 0.39 seconds?
With Google, began the era of speed on the internet and what initially began with affecting on 1% of rankings, is all set to create greater influence in 2012 and the way ahead.
For those of us who are still on the stage of improving website loading time, here is the course of action you must follow:
1. Analyse Your Speed Factor
First, use the online tools to analyze where you stand on the ‘speed’ factor. How easy is it for your website to load on any server or any browser?
Page speed, a Google product, is one such plug-in which offers relevant information while YSlow is a Yahoo! open source, free product for similar use. Webpagetest on the other hand is an AOL website which helps getting a comprehensive understanding of website related information and performance.
2.Work on the tips for enhancement by getting your engineers to do the right coding
3. Evaluate your site’s performance
The above mentioned points are important not just for rankings, but also for you as a business person. Imagine waiting at a fast-food restaurant for more than 45 minutes, after placing your order. Would you wait for that much time? Or would you walk out on them, to the joint that’s offering you better service?
With the way we live, with our highly active social and professional lives, no one would prefer waiting. It’s the same story on the internet.
Research shows that almost 60% visitors would not wait for your page to load if it takes more than 5 to 6 seconds. No one has time. Besides, it’s all about making the internet experience and your business better.
When it comes to Google spiders that will analyze your website, it is a different story and we shall look at it shortly. But, even for you, a low web page speed can affect the bounce rate and click through rate. There are certainly greater chances of a visitor moving away from your site when it loads slowly.
It is also noted that a bounce rate of almost 80% is seen on very slow websites; and running a risk of attaining such a high bounce rate would mean compromising on your goal! On the other hand, the click through rate is adversely affected because the website hasn’t engaged your user for long enough duration; the advertiser already loses his chance.
Moreover, the catch is that the bots understand this scenario very well. In the time ahead, they are only going to get smarter! With artificial intelligence, the human behaviors can be adequately comprehended – making the competition stronger.
The search engine algorithms that decide the rankings, have a detailed list of requirements ranging from link building, key word density, presence in directories, and everything else that defines your search engine optimization activities. Technically speaking, it is easy for them to even understand the programming of web content!
A page that loads slowly does not have the right number of codes and something that isn’t perfect, certainly needs to be improved.
Besides, there can be a slight benefit here for Google as well because – a page that is well coded, is also easier to index and present on the search results.
In other words, it’s probably not just about a user’s experience; it’s also about the convenience in processes. But then again, who doesn’t look at convenience? If you want a cutting edge over others, well then, welcome onboard for the challenge!
Author’s Bio:
Priti Pandya is an author working with a leading SEO Company that also offers various Website development service and other web marketing related services for the past 6 years.
Image Credit: devilmustcry