Website loading speed is playing an increasingly important role in both search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience (UX). In this article, we’ll look at how slow website loading times affect conversion rates and search engine rankings . We’ll also give you some basic tips on how to optimize and measure website speed.
This article was created in collaboration with the development company Rascasone. Its author is Barbora Koďousková, content manager at Rascasone.
The impact of website speed on SEO and user experience (UX)
Today's visitors are not willing to wait for a website to load. They are used to pages loading instantly – ideally within 2 seconds, according to statistics. If this does not happen, there is a high probability that they will visit a competitor's website instead.
Slow loading websites increase bounce rates and reduce the time visitors spend on your site. This results in a decrease in conversion rates , which can have a negative impact on sales or service orders.
This trend has certainly not escaped Google, which is trying to adapt its search engine results to user expectations. A few years ago, it introduced a set of metrics called Web Vitals , which focus on measuring website speed and overall user-friendliness.
Vitals website
Of course, Web Vitals metrics are not a panacea and do not affect search engine results to the point belize phone number data where you will immediately occupy the first positions after meeting them. However, it is not wise to ignore them, as they can significantly contribute to moving to higher search rankings.
Google penalizes websites that are in the bottom 20% in terms of performance by moving them lower in search results. Improving your Web Vitals metrics can help increase traffic and overall visibility for your website.
Web Vitals consist of three main metrics :
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – Measures the time it takes to load the largest visible visual content on a page. It indicates when the main content of the page is ready to be viewed.
INP (Interaction to Next Paint) – Measures the response time to user interaction with the page. This metric takes into account all interactions during a visit and their impact on the perception of page speed and fluidity.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – Measures the frequency and severity of unexpected shifts of elements on a page during loading. This metric is crucial for the user experience , as it can lead to, for example, unintentional clicking on the wrong link or button.
Each metric is evaluated based on its own criteria , and the results can fall into three categories.
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