Website speed is one of the last elements you're probably thinking about when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, in 2010 Google announced that Site Speed and Load Times were now one of the determining factors they use to rank your website.

The reason for this is because Google wants quality websites in their index. Site speed is all about user experience, which is a part of website quality in Google's mind. If your site is sluggish, users are probably not going to spend much time on it. Therefore, Google probably won't deem this as worthy of being ranked high in their search engine results.

Studies have shown that faster load times can also increase conversion rates. To demonstrate this idea, think about when you come across a slow site, what do you do? How easy is it to click the back button and refine your search?  My point is, if your site is slow, you are probably losing customers.

So how much does Site Speed and Load Time matter? The good news is that it is only about 1% or less of the overall Google algorithm. Although a really slow site might rank poorly, you can most likely get by with an average speed or load time. However, it really makes a difference when you have two relatively close ranking sites. Speed might just be enough to push it over the edge and raise it above the other.

There are many tools you can use to check your site speed. Google’s site speed tool is one of my favorites but it is a bit tricky to use if you are not web savvy.


If you are not all that web savvy, I suggest that you ask your web developer to provide you with this information. Website speed may only be a small piece of the Google algorithm now, but there is much speculation that it’s weight will increase in the future.