It was 2008 when Usain Bolt destroyed the 100m world record during the Beijing Olympics, and the world was captivated by his impressive, world-defining performance. Widely acclaimed to be the most accomplished, greatest sprinter of all time, everyone loves Usain Bolt. He’s charismatic, likeable and fast.
We could all make the world a better place by being more like Usain Bolt.
You can also apply the same logic to your website. Without speed and stability, nobody will want to use your website, nor will they ever find it in the first place because having a slow-loading website can dramatically affect your SEO ranking.
Today, we’re going to talk about why this is a problem and why it’s something you and your business needs to be thinking about.
Why is Website Speed Important for SEO?
Put yourself in the shoes (or maybe running shoes) of your customer or website user.
They’re looking for something online, and they search for a term on Google. Your website comes up at the top, and they click. The screen goes white, and things start to load. A few seconds pass. Then a few more.
The page isn’t completely loaded, and they can’t see what they’re looking for. They wait a few more, and thoughts like ‘oh, their website must be down or have problems’ flickers across their minds.
They don’t wait a few more. They leave.
On the other hand, if your website shows up, the user clicks it, and the website loads instantly, they can simply get on with what they need to do and get stuff done.
Nowadays, people are used to getting things done instantly. Even recently, I’m so used to next-day delivery, I actually found myself getting impatient for a delivery that took three days.
People are the same online. They want what you’ve got quickly and instantly. In fact, statistics show two seconds is the threshold where the majority of people will leave if your website hasn’t loaded during this time. Two seconds. Any longer than this and most people will leave to find something else.
Now, if people are coming to your website, waiting two seconds and your website isn’t fully loaded, and then leave, this dramatically increases your website’s bounce rate, which will affect your SEO. Google looks at your website and says:
“Well, people are going to this website, but they’re not staying on it for more than two seconds, so it can’t be giving them the experience they’re looking for. Therefore, this isn’t a good website for this search term.”
Then, your SEO ranking drops, and you’ll be listed further and further down the search terms. This is why it can be a good idea to use IT managed services to ensure your website server is never experiencing issues that will slow you down and ruin your overall user experience.
Summary
Make sure you’re doing what you can to speed up your website and ensure it’s working as fast as possible. If your server has loading problems and slow connection speeds, your website will load slowly, which will directly affect your SEO ranking. Do what you can to resolve your server issues to ensure this is never a problem you’re affected by.
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