On-page SEO
Page Speed
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What is Page Speed?
Page speed refers to how quickly the content of a web page loads for a user. It encompasses multiple metrics, including how fast the first byte of response arrives (TTFB), how quickly the largest visible element renders (LCP), and how long until the page is fully interactive. Google has confirmed page speed as a ranking factor for both desktop and mobile search since 2010 and 2018 respectively.
Page speed is influenced by server response time, file sizes (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images), render-blocking resources, caching configurations, and the use of content delivery networks (CDNs). Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse provide actionable recommendations and scores. Slow pages not only rank worse but also suffer higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates.
Why it matters for SEO
Page speed is a direct ranking factor and a core user experience signal. Slow-loading pages increase bounce rates, reduce crawl efficiency, and degrade Core Web Vitals scores — all of which negatively impact both rankings and conversion performance.
Example
A photography portfolio's homepage loads a 6 MB uncompressed hero image. Converting it to WebP, resizing it to the largest size actually displayed, and adding width and height attributes cuts the file to a few hundred kilobytes. The hero appears much faster on mobile connections, which improves Largest Contentful Paint and reduces visitors leaving before the page renders.
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