You may wonder why your site has such a high bounce rate or why your conversion rates are lacking. You put so much effort into your web design, and you know that your content is unique, helpful, and engaging. If you’re struggling to keep visitors on the page, your loading speed may be the culprit.
PageSpeed optimization is a critical but often overlooked component of web design. At Newbird, we understand how important PageSpeed is for success, and we’re committed to helping site owners improve their loading speeds and overall user experience.
“Google found that when average page load time drops from 20 seconds to 2 seconds, users are 50% less likely to leave your site right away.” Google
What Is PageSpeed Optimization?
PageSpeed optimization includes all of the strategies and design elements you may use to help your website load faster. It plays a role in your search engine rankings, and it’s one of the most important components of conversion rate optimization as most visitors abandon sites that don’t load immediately.
There are so many factors that can affect a page’s loading speed, which is why it’s necessary to partner with a web development team to optimize your website. The optimization process begins with an audit of your site to identify areas that could be improved. Then, our team will make adjustments on the backend of the website, including removing any elements that may be slowing it down, and restructuring each page so that it loads as quickly as possible.
Increasing your website’s speed requires a combination of marketing, design, and development strategies. You may need to compress or remove images that affect your page speed, or you may need to fix your site’s linking structure to reduce redirects. A thorough PageSpeed optimization campaign should address both the content and structure of the site.
Test your website’s page speed now
Why PageSpeed Matters In 2022
PageSpeed optimization is a key element of conversion rate optimization. You want your visitors to stay on your website, visit other pages, sign up for your email list, or purchase a product. However, most users won’t follow through with these actions unless you make it easy. In this day and age, the average person has a very short attention span, and they may abandon a website as soon as it becomes inconvenient.
Almost half of all internet users will abandon a page if it doesn’t load within a few seconds. If you haven’t optimized your site’s speed, you may lose out on a massive portion of your potential audience. PageSpeed optimization can dramatically lower your bounce rate and increase the chances of a site visitor completing a conversion on your site.
PageSpeed is a direct ranking factor for Google search results, too. In July of 2021, Google released an algorithm update called the Core Web Vitals Update. This update scrutinizes web pages based on 3 key metrics listed and explained below.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Marks the point in the page load timeline when the page’s main content has likely loaded–a fast LCP helps reassure the user that the page is useful.
What is LCP?
The Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) metric reports the render time of the largest image or text block visible within the viewport.
To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have Largest Contentful Paint occur within the first 2.5 seconds of the page starting to load.
First Input Delay (FID)
Quantifies the experience users feel when trying to interact with unresponsive pages—a low FID helps ensure that the page is usable.
What is FID?
FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with a page (i.e. when they click a link, tap on a button, or use a custom, JavaScript-powered control) to the time when the browser is actually able to begin processing event handlers in response to that interaction.
To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have a First Input Delay of less than 100 milliseconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Helps quantify how often users experience unexpected layout shifts—a low CLS helps ensure that the page is delightful.
What is CLS?
CLS measures the sum total of all individual layout shift scores for every unexpected layout shift that occurs during the entire lifespan of the page.
A layout shift occurs any time a visible element changes its position from one rendered frame to the next. (See below for details on how individual layout shift scores are calculated.)
To provide a good user experience, sites should strive to have a CLS score of less than 0.1.
Want to know how your website fares? Go to Google PageSpeed Insights and put in your URL. If you see red, that means your website could use some heavy PageSpeed optimization.
How We Can Help
PageSpeed is a complex facet of web design and development that can become a major factor in your website’s conversion rate. There are some simple changes you can make to your site to help it load faster, but to truly optimize each page, you may need a complete overhaul. We at Newbird have the experience and resources needed to get the job done.
Our team knows how to assess your site’s current performance, develop an individualized strategy for success, and implement the changes effectively. We’ll handle every step of the optimization process to help you improve the page speed and overall user experience of your website. When you work with Newbird, our team will take the time to get to know you and your brand’s needs.
PageSpeed is a fundamental aspect of web design and SEO, and a high-quality optimization campaign may be the key to your success. If you want to learn more about PageSpeed, we’d be happy to help answer your questions.