Why website speed matters
Why website speed matters
A slow page loses visitors before they read a word. Speed also feeds into how Google judges page experience on mobile.
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Website speed affects how many visitors stay long enough to become customers, how Google judges the experience of your pages and how professional your business looks.
Google measures page experience through its Core Web Vitals, which include how quickly the main content of a page appears. It is one signal among many; relevant, helpful content still matters most.
Key points
For the people visiting, a slow page is a reason to tap back to the search results and try someone else. That happens most on phones with a weak signal, which is where many local searches take place.
Speed also affects trust. A fast site feels looked after. A slow one makes visitors wonder whether the business is still active.
What this means for you
The usual causes of a slow site are oversized images, cheap hosting, bloated code, too many plugins and missing caching. Many of these can be fixed without rebuilding the site.
A well-built small business website can load in around a second on desktop and within a couple of seconds on mobile. Test yours and see where it stands.
In our clients’ words
What our clients say.
FAQ
Common questions
Use Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix or WebPageTest. Each scores your site and shows what is slowing it down.
Under a second on desktop and under two seconds on mobile is excellent. If your pages take several seconds to show anything, it is worth fixing.
It can help, because Google uses page experience as one of its signals, but nobody can promise a ranking from speed alone. The surer gain is with visitors: a faster site keeps more of the people who arrive.
Keep reading
Read next
What makes a good small business website
A good small business website loads quickly, works on a phone and explains in plain words what you do and why a customer should choose you.
Local SEO basics
Local SEO helps nearby customers find your business. It rests on a complete Google Business Profile, clear local wording, genuine reviews and consistent details.
How much does a website cost?
Published estimates put most small business websites at £500 to £8,000 to build, and larger agencies well above that. Here is what each option costs in year one, and what you keep paying after.
Find out what your website is costing you.
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