Although both phrases refer to how rapidly your website’s content loads, there is a technological distinction between them.
Page speed is the measure of how quickly a page’s content loads. It can be explained as:
- The amount of time it takes for a page to load completely. 10.3 seconds on average are needed to load a page.
- How long it takes for a browser to receive the first byte of data from your server is known as the “time to the first byte.”
The speed at which your entire website loads is referred to as site speed. It is determined by averaging the page speeds for a representative sample of site visitors.
Site speed can also be used as a synonym for website speed, which is a more broad term used to describe how rapidly your site loads.
The user experience and search engine rankings of your site are all impacted by page speed, site speed, and website speed, all of which are closely connected concepts.
Why are services for increasing website speed crucial to the success of websites?
Simple! Not only does Google want it, but so do your website visitors. Your pages need to load quickly because there is a link between page speed and SEO.
The major responsibility of Google is to deliver users the most relevant search results. Search engines seek to display websites that offer a positive user experience in addition to serving pages with content that best matches the user’s query. And you guessed it: a great user experience includes page speed.
Readability and navigational simplicity are two additional user experience components.
Pages that load quickly attract site visitors and reduce bounce rates, which is another sign to Google that your site is trustworthy or not.
Users will become impatient and leave your website to discover one that delivers the information they need more quickly if it takes more than three seconds for it to fully load.
Google will start to notice if users frequently leave your website, and you will experience a decline in search engine ranks. Google penalizes you in the rankings as a result since it believes that a high bounce rate and a poor user experience are related.
Google concludes that your website must not be very effective if visitors leave before reading the material on it. Little do they (or your site visitors) realize that despite having one of the top websites and the best content available, your website’s lengthy loading time prevented them from visiting it.
Thus, page speed becomes even more essential. Users may not even visit your website if it isn’t fast enough, which means they won’t learn about your company, view your goods and services, or read your useful content. They will most likely not convert.
Is Mobile a Factor?
Mobile speed is now a ranking consideration, according to Google’s Speed Update, which was released in January 2018. As a result, site performance might affect your rankings on both desktop and mobile devices.
This means that it’s important to consider mobile when dealing with website speed optimization.
The same principles apply to optimizing page speed for mobile devices as they do for desktop computers. Of course, you also want to check that your website is initially mobile-friendly. This indicates that even on smaller screens, your website is functional and simple to use.
Why think about continuing site optimization for speed?
There are two major packages provided by Web Consultants, initial and continuing, but you should think about ongoing page speed improvements for the following reasons:
- The success of your website depends on the constant priority given to site performance optimization as Google and other search engines continue to develop. Additionally, you need to stay on top of page performance audits due to site evolution, including plugin and CMS updates.
- In order to find hidden bugs in code that can be slowing down your site, skilled developers must commit time to the technical service of site speed optimization.
- Although small, incremental gains will keep your site’s page speed under control, you’ll probably see higher benefits initially and gradual gains over time.
Improve your site and page loading speed today! Get in touch and our team of professionals will advise on the best steps to get your website’s loading and site speed optimized that will improve your overall search rankings! Web Consultants specialized in SEO Services in Johannesburg.