Are you a business owner? Lots of things go into making a great website for your brand, but one thing that’s easy to overlook is how long the pages take to load. Did you know that speed is an essential factor when it comes to search engine optimization? Here’s what it means for your business.
Why Does it Matter?
You want your website to rank high on Google results, but Google wants to provide the best experience for the people who use its search engine. What this means is that Google is going to prioritize websites that respond more quickly. Make sense? That’s how page load times became another aspect of search engine optimization. If your website is frustrating because it takes a long time for the pages to load, this reflects poorly not only on your brand, but also on Google.
Average Page Speeds
We were more patient when the Internet first arrived on the scene in the 90s. But these days, the bottom line is that speed matters if you’re a business owner because customers prefer websites that are immediately responsive to their needs. The reality is that the longer a site takes to load, the more likely a customer is to spend their money elsewhere. So how fast should your website’s pages load for the best search engine optimization?
In general, 2 seconds is an ideal load time and a good goal to work towards. In fact, the bounce rate increases for every second your site takes to respond. We can all relate to this experience, especially when we’re trying to shop online but there are so many products on a page that it’s not loading properly. What do you do? You get frustrated and choose another business.
How Fast is Your Website?
There are a couple ways you can find out how your website compares to the rest of the sites on the web. Additionally, Google released Google Lighthouse, an open-source tool to help web developers improve website pages. But for the average person there are both free and paid tools available that allow you to measure and track page speeds.
If you aren’t an expert in search engine optimization, though, your best option is to have a professional web developer review your site and suggest improvements. It becomes more complex when you take into account that there should be a mobile version of your site as well. Remember, many searches take place on smart devices when potential customers are on the go.
Let’s Talk Search Engine Optimization
If you’re a business owner, 2021 is the year to revamp your SEO strategy and take full advantage of an improved design. Contact us at D-Kode Technology for a customized plan. We can help you improve brand awareness and safely scale your business. Lets talk. Click this link to fill out a simple contact form. If you have other questions about search engine optimization, we have answers.