One of the most crucial parts of a user’s experience, when they surf the web, is the speed it takes for pages to load. Oftentimes, Google’s search engine prioritizes pages that have faster page load time. Adding to this, if your website’s page speed isn’t up to par with the standards of your users and Google’s search engine, it may affect the overall flow and visibility of your website, and most importantly, negatively affect your bounce rate. For these reasons, companies that offer search engine optimization services will include recommendations for improving your website’s page speed to boost your SEO health.
Importance of Page Speed
Bounce rate is the rate that visitors who come to your site leave after only viewing one page. This can be affected by many factors, including content, design, the relevancy of your content, and, as stated before, speed. But why is page speed so important?
Page speed refers to the longevity of time it takes to reveal the content of a particular page. If a website’s page tends to be slow, many visitors may be deterred by it, and search engines might not even make your website visible on search results. In fact, 47% of consumers expect that pages on a website should load in two seconds at most. With that being said, slow page speed can adversely affect a digital business’s production and revenue. On the contrary, websites with fast page speed develop a significant increase in conversion rates.
Build Trust and Retain Users
It has been proven that poor performance can negatively affect a business’s goals. Because performance impacts the success of your site, ensure to provide quality content rapidly.
Better User Experience
Slower connections force the viewers to wait for the content to show up. Because of this, they tend to switch to other pages that provide a quick page speed.
Impact of Page Speed on Bounce Rate
As previously mentioned, the percentage of visitors that leave a page without taking additional actions is called a bounce rate, and the page load time or page speed has a direct impact on this. Some research studies show that the average bounce rate is 9% for pages that load in 2 seconds. When the page load time hits 5 seconds, the rate that user bounce increases to 38%. Google even revealed that 53% of mobile users would leave a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. While the average bounce rate is around 26-40%, anything higher than that is seen as disappointing. By improving your page speed, you enhance the clients’ experience and increase your website’s conversion rate.
Tools to Use in Tracking of Page Speed
If you are trying to improve your bounce rate by improving your page speed, the best solution is to invest in tools specifically made to track page speed. Some are even capable of optimizing speed and giving you an in-depth insight into your page’s overall performance. This helps you oversee and improve your page speed and your bounce rate as a whole.
Listed below are some of the best tools that may help you:
GTmetrix
It is an online application, which provides free insights about your web pages, such as page load time without fees. You can test the web page speed by copying the URL of the page you would like to analyze. Create a free account with no hidden charges or sign up for more in-depth data for the paid version.
WebPage Test
This tool is another free application you can utilize to track and gather data about your page. You can run tests from different locations around the world with the WebPage Test. It also provides advanced and comprehensive visualization comparison of data and straightforward testing. You can even capture the progress of speed through video.
Varvy Pagespeed Optimisation
This tool, which can optimize page speed, can also be acquired for free. Upon entering the web page URL, you will get a summary and reports. It includes an examination of resources, CSS delivery, Javascript usage, and page speed concerns. Vary Pagespeed provides a section for SEO and website optimization guides. It can be a helpful tool to enhance your page’s performance.
Pingdom
Get an in-depth insight into page speed and performance through text messages or email. This tool is one of the leading monitoring applications and website optimization for your page. However, it does not provide a free edition. You can check out their free 14-day trial.
Conclusion
B page speed can aid in improving your page’s bounce rate. With the tools listed above, you can monitor your website performance, identify areas for improvement, and find the best solutions you can utilize. This way, you can increase the engagement between the page and your customers and improve your website’s performance and your business’s as well.