What Is Page Speed?
Page speed is the amount of time that it takes for a web page to open. It can be either described as “page load time” which is the time it takes to fully display the content on a certain page or “time to first byte” which measures how long it takes for a page to start the loading process.
Why is this important for SEO?
Google has indicated that the page load speed is of the signals used by its algorithm to rank pages. In other words, a slow-loading website can hurt your Google rankings because the page load speed is important to user experience. Pages with a longer load time can have higher bounce rates and lower average times on pages.
Luckily, there are ways to increase your page speed.
Compress Images
This is usually the biggest win since images usually take up to 50-90% of a page’s size. PNG format is better for graphics with fewer than 16 colors and JPEGs are better for photographs. If you’re using WordPress you can use a plugin called WP Smush. If you’re not using WordPress, there are still plenty of compression options such as a Caesium and the Mass Image Compressor. The quality of your images will stay the same, so there’s nothing to worry about.
Compress Your Code
You can increase your page speed by removing spaces, commas, and other unnecessary characters. It’s one way to optimize your website.
The other way is to minify resources found on your pages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Clean your code, then compress it by using a program like GZip.
Reduce Redirects
Each time a page redirects to another page, the user has to wait for the HTTP request-respond cycle to complete. Cut your additional redirects, because they make your page load slower.
Example:
website.com -> www.website.com -> n.website.com -> n.website.com/home
Delete Render-Blocking JavaScript
Before the browser can render a page, it needs to build a DOM tree. It can do so by parsing the HTML markup and making a stop and executing a script every time it encounters one. You can place the scripts that you need inline in order to avoid extra network requests. To improve your loading time don’t forget to optimize CSS delivery.
Activate Browser Caching
Browsers cache a great deal of information, so when the visitor comes back to your site, the browser doesn’t have to reload the entire page. Basically, it allows users to store part of your page in their browser cache, so the next time they visit your site, it loads much faster. Sadly, this won’t help your page load faster for first-time visitors.
You can set your browser caching with the WordPress plugin or in your htaccess file.
Be careful when enabling browser caching because if you set the parameters too long on certain files, the user may not be getting the fresh version of your website after updates.
Improve Server Response Time
Your server response time is affected by a variety of factors. Everything matters: from the amount of traffic you receive to the resources each page uses and the software your server uses. To improve it, eliminate bottlenecks like slow databases, even slower routing, or a lack of adequate memory and fix them. Keep in mind that the optimal server response is under 200ms.
Use Content Delivery Networks
Content Delivery Networks are networks of servers that help distribute the load of delivering content by keeping additional copies of it. Copies of your site are stored at multiple data centers across the world, giving your users faster and more reliable access to your site.