Google is constantly searching for new ways to rank pages on the results page to ensure that the results are very relevant and accurate. Speed was always appreciated by users online but only recently has it become an official criterion that decides where the website will be ranked on Google. The tech giant has updated its terms that now also measure the time that websites take to show users the sites that are the quickest and most relevant.

If you have a website representing a product or service online, it is very important to be thorough with the latest search engine optimisation guidelines. Google has launched a PageSpeed insights tool to help designers get an exact measurement of how fast their site is. You can also outsource this work to a website development company that is well-versed with SEO. Understanding how it works and what changes can improve your performance will support your existing SEO campaign and help you place higher on Google.

What Is PageSpeed Insights?

First, it can help to understand what page speed in itself is. In simple words, it is the time taken for an individual webpage to load on your website. It can also be described as the “time to first byte” for your webpage. This metric is very subjective and differs greatly depending on the type of internet connection, the ISP and even the type of internet plan. Sometimes, designers also notice greatly varying loading times amongst pages within their website. This can happen due to the varying number of images, videos and other data-heavy content on the webpage.

It is hard to perform consistently on every speed test and tweak every single factor that decides the speed of your website. The only thing that is in the hands of designers is the website itself, this is where optimisation is required. Google’s PageSpeed Insights is an easy-to-use metric analysis tool that will help rate the speed of your website by giving you a score that can be improved upon. It also enables users to set their time of intent to give them a chance to get better loading times even if parts of their code will run later. What matters is the time it takes for the website to become usable.

PageSpeed and SEO

If you’re wondering how much the speed of your website influences your search engine performance, the answer is a lot! Following the best practices to help better your loading time will surely help you rank higher. Although not directly, your rank is improved by increasing the bounce time and decreasing the dwell time. Find a website design company in Delhi to optimise your design for you.

Google also ranks websites that can retain users by showing them content faster. Estimates say that users change websites after a mere 3 seconds if the content has not loaded. Google wants to show its users pages that will give them the best experience. Here are a few ways to improve your PageSpeed for better SEO:

Keep Your Code Light

Yes, those extra commas and semicolons influence loading speed. Go back to your code and get rid of any loose characters and blocks of code. It is also recommended to remove any comments and heavy formatting. Tools like CSSNano and UglifyJS can be used to clean your code.

Browser Cache

Modern browsers use a lot of caching to make the experience seem more fluid. Components like stylesheets, images and JavaScript files can be cached to make the content appear faster. Set the “expires” setting to one year if your website has a fairly constant design. This is the most convenient setting for users and will ensure that their visits will be quick and satisfying.

Optimize Pictures

Make sure the pictures in your content are the right size and format. PNGs for graphics with less than 16 colours and JPEGs for general photographic content is the best combination for the quickest server response time. Using CSS sprites instead of native images can also help load them faster as CSS loads all the pictures on a page at once hence reducing the number of HTTP requests required.

Reduce Redirection

If your URL is redirecting from the main page to another page using a long path, it can greatly increase the HTTP server requests and create a negative impact on your overall page speed. Try getting rid of these redirections and go the next page with a path length of just one address.

SEO is a constantly evolving skill that requires constant learning and optimisation. There is no such thing as a perfectly optimised website. It is important to keep understanding the drawbacks of your present design and ensure that your next iteration is better in terms of speed, user experience and other factors that affect how well the site performs.