Important SEO Factors Often Ignored
One important SEO factor that often gets ignored is page speed; it is an important metric for Google SEO, and if your website is not loading quickly enough then you could be standing in between yourself and greater success. In this blog post, we will discuss how page speed can impact your business and how to make sure your pages are optimized for the best possible user experience. With a few simple tips, you will be able to maintain a lightning-fast website and reach any customer looking for home service contracting fast!
To start, it is important to understand why speed matters. Consumers have grand expectations when visiting a website and if your loading times are slow, most of them will leave the page without ever seeing what you have to offer. It is a well-known fact that 40% of users will wait no more than three seconds for a web page to render before abandoning the site – and perhaps, never coming back. Because of this, Google takes page speed into account when positioning websites in search engine results. If other sites are faster than yours, they might be favored over yours even if you provide better content and services. This is why optimizing for speed is an essential part of SEO and can help you get more targeted traffic from organic searches.
Google Announces Core Web Vitals
In May 2020 Google announced Core Web Vitals, a set of user-focused performance metrics that Google evaluates to determine how quickly a website is loading and if the user experience will be satisfactory. This includes things like First Contentful Paint, Largest Contentful Paint, Cumulative Layout Shift, and Time-to-Interactive. Improving on these core vitals helps improve page speed which in turn boosts your SEO rankings.
First Contentful Paint measures the amount of time it takes for something to appear on the page. Largest Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for a full image or larger text blocks to be visible. Cumulative Layout Shift helps track if elements are shifting around when loading, which can cause confusion or slow down user experience. Time-to-Interactive is how quickly users can interact with your website without any lag.
Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix
Luckily with today’s technology, there are plenty of tools available that make it easy to optimize your site’s performance. The first step would be to use tools like Google Pagespeed Insights or GTmetrix that analyze the page and provide detailed information on loading times, optimization possibilities, and potential issues. They provide valuable insights into what is causing slow speeds on the backend. and show where your site needs improvement.
Technical Issues
To make sure your website is loading as quickly as it should, you need to identify any technical issues that could be slowing everything down. This includes.
- checking for plugins or scripts that are out of date and cause the page to load slowly due to excessive requests.
- optimizing images for web use (try using compressed file types such as JPEG and PNG), reduce redirects.
- implementing caching techniques so content loads faster when returning visitors arrive on your site.
- minifying code
- compressing images,
- caching frequently used resources,
- improving server response time,
- leveraging CDNs (Content Delivery Networks),
- optimizing CSS and JavaScript code – While it can be beneficial for providing a better user experience, too much of it can cause your website to become sluggish and put off potential customers. To avoid this, try reducing the size of your scripts or using asynchronous loading (which allows some parts of the code to load in parallel).
Render Blocking Scripts
Rendering blocking scripts are the most common culprit when it comes to slow loading pages. This happens when certain parts of your page contain code that takes a while to execute and therefore temporarily blocks other elements from being processed until the script is done running. You can reduce this effect by moving the content of these scripts further down on the page or using asynchronous loading (which allows some parts of the code to load in parallel).
By following these tips, you can significantly improve the performance of your website and ensure that it runs as quickly as possible. Speed is essential for SEO success, so do not take any chances – prioritize page speed to ensure you are giving potential customers the best experience from your home service contracting business!
Mobile Versions
With more than 60% of Google’s US organic search traffic originating from mobile devices, it is important to evaluate how quickly mobile versions of your site are loading. Mobile users tend to have lofty expectations, so you will want to make sure their experience is smooth and fast as well. Keep an eye out for any plugins or coding that could be causing issues with mobile devices, and always test out how pages look on different platforms before launching them.
What if I do not have the skill or time to do it myself?
No problem! There are plenty of web development experts available who can help you optimize your website’s performance. With their expertise, they will be able to analyze your site, find the best solutions, and implement them quickly and efficiently. This is a wonderful way to save time and get the results you need without having to do it all yourself.
What does it cost?
The cost of website optimization depends on the type of services you need, and the expertise needed for the job. Generally, professionals charge by the hour but some companies will offer fixed rates or packages depending on your needs. It is best to do your research and shop around for a service provider that is best suited to your budget and project goals.
It takes time but it is worth it!
With these techniques and tools, you will be able to optimize your website’s performance and ensure that visitors have an optimal browsing experience no matter what device they are using. It takes time to make the necessary adjustments, but it is worth it if you want your business to reach more customers. Speed is key in this competitive landscape so do not let yourself get left behind by slower pages!
We hope that this blog post has helped you understand how speed affects your business. Page speed plays a vital role in the success of any business online. With a few simple steps, you can make sure your pages are optimized for speed and reach more customers than ever before!
Editor’s Note:
Home Services Design can help our hosting accounts achieve faster site speed. Costs generally run between $200 and $200 depending on site size and complexity. In some instances (where sites are hosted on our Celeritas platform), we can achieve some success through our proprietary Hummingbird Page Optimizer plugin – check with us to see about your site. Book Consultation.
