Humans are impatient creatures. One is a little more patient than the other, but as soon as there is a queue at the checkout, or we have to wait for that package we ordered last week, almost everyone gets impatient. The same goes for slow websites. If the loading speed of the website you are visiting takes longer than 3 seconds, chances are that you leave the page to visit another website with the same information. This means that as a website / webshop owner, you lose a potential visitor who was interested in the product or service that you offer. This is of course an unnecessary loss and easy to prevent. How you may ask? Read on to find the answer!
The 2021 update
Google continuously adjusts its algorithm to provide the user with the best possible overview of search results that match the user's search query and search intent. In addition, Google attaches more and more value to the user experience on a website and webshop, hence the Core Web Vitals update. The Core Web Vitals are set on 3 metrics, namely LCP, FID and CLS.
These metrics relate to loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability. Thus, the Core Web Vitals are designed to measure how web users perceive the speed, responsiveness and visual stability of a web page.
- LCP (or Largest Contentful Paint) is the time it takes to load the main content of a page. An ideal LCP reading is 5 seconds or faster.
- FID (or First Input Delay) is the time it takes for a page to become interactive. An ideal measurement is less than 100 ms.
- CLS (or Cumulative Layout Shift) is the amount of unexpected layout shift of visual page content. An ideal measurement is less than 0.1.
The Other Ranking Factors
In addition to the Core Web Vitals, Google indicates that a number of already known signals are included in the ranking of your page in this Page Experience Update:
- Mobile friendly: Almost 80% of internet users have a smartphone and 1.2 billion people worldwide use their phone for the internet. therefore, it is essential that your website is mobile friendly.
- Safe Browsing: Google Safe Browsing helps protect more than four billion devices every day by alerting users when they try to navigate to dangerous sites or download dangerous files. Safe Browsing also notifies webmasters when their websites have been compromised by malicious actors and helps them diagnose and fix the problem, keeping their visitors safe. Safe Browsing protections work across all Google products for safer Internet browsing experiences.
- HTTPS: Stands for HyperTextTransfer Protocol Secure and is the internet protocol whereby data is sent encrypted. This means that malicious people cannot just find out the data that visitors send to you - and vice versa.
- Intrusive Interstitials: Are essentially pop-up ads. They tend to block most or all pages leading to a bad user experience for both desktop and mobile users.
Page speed
In May 2021, Google will therefore include page speed as a ranking factor, making page speed even more important! Page speed is part of the technical side of search engine optimisation (SEO). This involves looking at compressing images, but also optimising codes in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
What is the website loading speed actually?
Page speed can be interpreted as page load speed (the time it takes to load the entire page) or the time to the first byte (how long it takes for the browsers to get the first byte of information). You can measure your page speed with a tool from Google, Google Page Insights. This tool measures page speed for both desktop and mobile.
Which problem does slow website speed cause?
The problem that slow website speed can cause is a high bounce rate. A bounce rate is based on the number of visitors who visit the website but do not interact. You can often see this reflected in the average time on the page. A high bounce rate on the website has consequences for the positioning of your website / webshop in search engines.
What can you do about the loading time of the website?
You can check the loading time of your webshop or website through a free tool from Google, named PageSpeed Insights. Here you can see how fast the loading time of your website is. A pie chart indicates how fast or how slow the entered website is. In addition, you can ensure that images and videos are properly compressed, the correct HTML codes are used, and so on. We understand that this is a bit hocus-pocus for some entrepreneurs, but don't panic! The Dare Company is here to help you!
Do you want a super-fast and a perfect user experience on your website? Curious what we can do for you? Then do our free Website Check. We are happy to contact you with detailed advice.
More information? Contact us!