The Impact of Site Speed on Conversions
by Ascedia - January 18, 2017 - 1 minute read
What difference does a single second make? One study found that a one-second optimization on a page increases conversions 2% and increased SEO and bounce rates for entrance pages. Page loading speeds matter today more than ever. Google notes that a 250-millisecond advantage is all it takes to edge out a competitor’s site.
Lose Leads With Slow Load Times
It’s no doubt that page load times are an important factor for visitors. A slow load time could cause an impatient potential lead or customer to hit the Back button. Visitors expect a maximum of a two-second load time and tend to navigate away after three seconds (Source: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/loading-time/). Considering all the work it takes to develop targeted content and drive visits, you don’t want to risk losing leads because of slow page load times.
Slow load times for landing pages can hurt user experience and cause bounces, which not only results in a loss of engagement but can also hurt search engine rankings. Additionally, page speed could be the deciding factor in whether your site ranks before your competitor’s.
Pay More Per Click
Page speed optimization can cost you real dollars! You may also be paying too much for ad clicks in AdWords if your page isn’t optimized for speed, as this metric is also a component of your quality score. So slow page load times don’t just affect user experience but can also cause your cost per click to be higher than your optimized competitors.
Eliminate Bottlenecks
The first step in improving your results is determining your current state. Take advantage of site speed tools like testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com to find out how your site stacks up against others. Then, you can clean up code and optimize images to improve site speed.
Reducing 301 redirects can increase load times and using a content delivery system can help as well.