So you’ve developed your business website. Everything looks great until you run a Google page speed test and realize your page is not as fast as it should be. This is a problem for a multitude of reasons, but do not worry. This blog will cover everything you need to know about speed tests and, most importantly, how to make your page load faster. 

What is a page speed?

Page speed is defined as the amount of time required to display all the content on a particular page.

Page speed is calculated separately on desktop and mobile devices. This is because the devices have different technological aspects, which results in different user-experience for desktop and mobile users.

Factors that affect a page’s speed include its HTML code, CSS that styles page elements, various JavaScript files, images, videos and other multimedia, and so much more. The truth is, every element of a page will influence the page speed. 

Why does speed matter? 

Page speed is critical to your business and your audience simply because no one likes a slow-loading page. Faster pages are more efficient and provide a much better on-page user experience.

According to a study by Kissmetrics, if a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, more than 25% of users will click away. Essentially, if you do not have a fast website, it will damage your bounce rate drastically. 

Page speed also plays a major role in your conversion rate. Let’s say you were able to successfully drive traffic to your site after all your digital marketing efforts. However, because of a slow loading page, prospective clients grow impatient and leave without making a purchase. What a shame!

If a page loads at lightning speed, visitors are more willing to stick around, browse through more of your content, and ultimately convert.

Another reason to improve your page speed is to maximize your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As you likely already know, SEO affects how your site ranks on the search engine results page. A recent announcement by Google Search Central states that it will give authority to websites that can load quickly. As such, the faster your page loads, the better you rank on Google, and the easier users can find your website.

To maintain a profitable business in the online realm, you will need a solid foundation that includes fast page speed. Not only will you have a greater chance to rank on the first page of Google’s search result, but you will also have a website that is more likely to convert. 

What is the ideal Google page speed?

Research findings based on Portent states that websites should aim for less than four seconds loading time for best conversion rates. If you want to climb your way up to the first page of Google, your page needs to load in under four seconds. Though, the average time it takes to fully load a mobile landing page is 22 seconds

While it is easy to determine your website’s page speed, it can be pretty tricky to figure out what’s holding your page back from achieving its fullest potential. We’re not going to sugar coat it for you; speeding up your website is no easy task. 

Your problem could range from anything between the poorly written codes to large image attachments or hefty page weight (the size of data). Not to mention, you will need to resolve your issue fast before Google determines that your website is not reliable. 

Luckily for you, there is a tool you can use to determine what’s slowing down your page.

Google PageSpeed Insights

This is a tool that every web developer needs. With Google PageSpeed Insights, you can test the speed of a web page efficiently. It even measures the performance of a page for both mobile devices and desktop devices. 

All you have to do is enter your website’s URL and click “Analyze.” You will then automatically receive a detailed report highlighting the elements that are slowing down your web page. For example, red warnings highlight the major loading issues on your page. 

You will also learn to analyze metrics related to your page speed, aka Core Web Vitals:

• First Contentful Paint (FCP): This metric relates to a page's first bit of load time. The metric represents the first feedback to the user that has loaded appropriately. 

• First Input Delay (FID): This metric measures a page's interactivity; the FIP represents the time from when a user first interacts with your site to when the browser can respond appropriately to that interaction. 

• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This metric highlights the instances when a page's layout or the page’s visual stability shifts unexpectedly. If a page shifts, users can accidentally click on the wrong button on the page.

Additionally, the data collected on your report is categorized into two separate parameters for easier reference:

• Parameter 1: Time to above-the-fold load. 

  This is the amount of time it takes for a page to display content above the fold after a user requests a new page.

• Parameter 2: Time to fully load a page. 

  This is the amount of time it takes a browser to fully render a page after a user requests it.

Google PageSpeed Insights score runs from 0 to 100 points. Obviously, if you score a 100%, your website is fast. So always try to aim for a higher score as it indicates that the page is performing well.

How to improve your Google page speed

In order to achieve a high score on your Google PageSpeed Insights, there are several points you can consider:

1. Limit page redirects

Redirecting a user causes the page rendering to come to a halt in order to open additional HTTP requests. This takes up precious loading time which affects the user quality experience. 

Page redirects occur when a page has yet to be optimized for responsiveness. For example, different devices will have varying numbers of redirects to pages. Most redirects are unnecessary, and eliminating them is one of the best ways to prevent problems related to broken links. 

2. Compress page elements

You want the size of your files to be as small as possible, of course, without having to sacrifice their quality. The smaller your files, the faster they load. This includes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, plain text, and XML files. 

Fortunately, web browsers today are fully capable of serving smaller versions of a page. By enabling the GZIP compressor, you can easily shrink file sizes by 90%. Instead of loading the entire page, the browser can fetch an exponentially compressed version that loads in a fraction of the time.

You can also run a compression audit on GIDNetwork to get a sense of how compression will speed up your site. 

3. Prioritize above-the-fold content

You can improve page speed by having your above-the-fold content load faster (the top of the page that is displayed in the browser without the need for any scrolling) — even if the rest of the page takes a few more seconds.

This technique is known as “lazy loading.” It’s particularly helpful for pages with lots of content on a page. For example, your page features a blog post that includes multiple photos and videos. This would typically require a user’s browser to download all of those media before displaying anything on the page.

With lazy loading, your page can load the top view content first, then load all of the remaining files after.

4. Speed up server response time

Server response time refers to the amount of time it takes for the server to respond to a user’s request. With a good server response time, your website will appear to load almost instantly. 

There are a few elements that affect server response time:

• Slow database queries

• Slow application logic

• Slow routing

• Resource CPU starvation

• Memory starvation

• Large size images

To counter slow server response time, it is beneficial to find a fast and dedicated host. While shared hosting is budget-friendly, they often overload their servers, making it slower for your website to load. 

Also, keep in mind that your page speed will be affected by the internet connection if you use Developer Tools. So the slower your user’s internet connection, the slower their server response will appear.

5. Monitor performance regularly

It’s always a good idea to keep track of your performance over time. By monitoring your efforts in improving your page speed, you learn to identify room for improvement. You will be able to pinpoint any problem in the early stage. Thus, you will have sufficient time to recover and keep your website in good shape. This step is still important even after you’ve achieved your desired page speed.

Various elements will affect your page speed — so you always have to be on the lookout for sudden changes or new trends. 

Remember to analyze data from both desktop and mobile devices as they often produce different results. It’s also essential to ensure that your site is mobile-user-friendly. 

Ready to run better results for your next Google page speed test? 

Now that you have a couple of tricks up your sleeves, it’s time to put them to good use. Remember, improving the loading speed of your page takes time. It would be helpful to develop a SMART goal before aiming for that 100% or under four seconds loading speed. 

It is also essential to keep an open mind to learning new strategies as new issues arise. Nevertheless, once you’ve tackled all the underlying problems, you will maximize your website’s content, increase visibility, and drive more users to convert. 

FAQs

Does Google Page Speed Test affect my website ranking on Google?

As this blog highlighted, Google has officially announced that it ranks websites with faster loading pages higher on the algorithm. We can conclude that page speed does affect one’s SEO. Additionally, page speed is essential to the user experience. A faster loading speed will most likely decrease the bounce rate, which is another factor that Google considers when ranking websites. 

How to run a Google Page Speed Test?

Simply go to Google PageSpeed Insights. Type in your website URL in the search bar and hit “Analyze.” Once the test is complete, you will see your website’s score out of 100. You can also switch to the mobile version or desktop version to find out how the scores differ. 

What can I do if my Google page speed score is low?

The great thing about Google PageSpeed Insights is it shows your results and points out your website’s significant issues and tips on fixing them. If you’re still confused by these statistics, you can always reach out to your web developer or an SEO specialist to fix the problems for you. 

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