Does the speed of a website matter for its ranking?

The importance of a website’s speed for its performance

The loading speed of a website is a critical factor for its success, both from the user experience perspective and from the search engine ranking (SEO) perspective. Here are some points explaining why speed is so important:

1.Improvement of user experience

Visitors expect fast website loading times. If your website is slow, users tend to leave, increasing the bounce rate. Studies have shown that:

• 53% of mobile users abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
• Every second of delay can reduce user satisfaction by about 16%.

2. Impact on search engines (SEO)

Google and other search engines consider loading speed as a ranking factor. A slow website can:

• Have a lower ranking in search results.
• Be indirectly penalized through reduced user experience and a high bounce rate.

Additionally, with the introduction of Core Web Vitals by Google, factors such as loading time (Largest Contentful Paint), interactivity (First Input Delay), and layout stability (Cumulative Layout Shift) have become even more important for ranking.

3. Commercial performance

Speed also affects the commercial performance of a website. For example:

• Amazon has reported that every additional 100ms of delay can cost millions of dollars in lost sales.
• A fast website increases conversion rates, as users complete their purchases more easily.

How to improve your website’s speed

To ensure your website loads quickly, follow these practices:

• Optimize your images: Use formats like WebP and compress images before uploading them.
• Enable caching: To reduce loading time for returning visitors.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): For faster content delivery.
• Minimize CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files: Remove unnecessary code to improve performance.

Conclusion

Website speed is not just a technical detail, but a crucial factor for success online. Invest in speed to provide an excellent user experience, improve your ranking on search engines, and increase your commercial performance.