Why your website is loading slowly?
Tensed that your website speed may affect your SEO?
Are you wanted to increase your current SERP ranking?
If you're here, there's a good chance you'll learn how to speed up your website.
And we have good news: Making your website load faster will not only benefit your users, but it can also help you get more organic traffic from Google.
You can help increase your website's search visibility by:
Using a site speed test tool that monitors your site's speed in real-time.
Making changes with high impact.
So let's take a look at how you can check if your website is performing well enough to impress Google and what you can do to speed it up.
Why is site speed important for SEO?
In 2021, Google launched a page update that confirmed key SEO information - site speed is a ranking factor.
This means that the Google search engine prefers websites that load quickly and smoothly for your visitors.
Google has a better chance of showing faster sites over slower ones in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
What factors does Google consider in site speed?
There are many factors that affect website speed, but Google has made it easy for you.
Before updating the page algorithm, Google created a set of three metrics called Core Web Vitals and used these metrics to determine the speed and usability of your website.
These three key metrics can help you understand which pages and parts of your site are affecting site speed and user experience – making it easier to determine what's causing your site to rank lower.
The Best Tools for Website Speed Tests (Plus How to Make Your Website Faster) Screenshot showing Core Web Vitals data in Debug Bear, October 2022
Core Web Vitals by Google
To make sure your site ranks well, you need to make sure you pay attention to:
Largest Content Color (LCP): How fast is the content rendered?
First Entry Latency (FID): How quickly does a website respond to user interaction?
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Is the page layout stable or does the content shift on load?
When you enter your site into Google Search Console or the Core Web Vitals monitoring tool, you'll get a score and affected pages, along with green, yellow, or red notation.
If there are any red or yellow flags on your site, it's time to use a site speed test tool to find out what you should fix on your site.
What tools can you use to test website speed?
Dedicated website speed testing tools can provide a lot of quality data and recommendations on how to increase your website speed.
These types of tools are made specifically for speed tests and can give you all the information you need to increase your website's load time.
Try these specialized web speed testing tools:
DebugBear Website Speed Test.
WebPageTest.
GTmetrix.
In this article, we will use the free testing tool DebugBear, but you can also use an alternative such as WebPageTest or GTmetrix.
In addition to the above tools, there are also insight tools to help you understand your local site speed and lab test site speed.
Testing website speed locally on your computer
Chrome DevTools can provide a lot of detailed data about how your website loads.
However, when testing on your own computer, the test result is highly dependent on your local environment. It can also be difficult to manually clear all relevant caches to match the first-time user experience.
Site Speed Tool from Google
The Page Speed Insights tool is excellent for getting a quick overview of your site's speed.
You'll get both real user data and suggestions on how to speed up your website based on a lab test. However, because it uses simulated strangulation, the lab data is not always accurate.
Test your website for free with DebugBear now →
How to test a website with DebugBear
Testing your website speed with DebugBear only takes seconds.
To run a site performance test:
Visit: Go to debugbear.com/test.
Test: Enter your website's URL.
Review: View results; see metrics and in-depth debugging data that you can use to understand metrics and make changes.
Let's dive into some metrics and find out how to speed up your website.
For maximum SERP ranking, aim for a score of 75%+
One of the key metrics that the DebugBear website speed test gives you is the "Real User Score".
This percentage helps you understand how well your website is performing in the real world - with real users.
Based on data that Google collects from real Chrome users, this number shows what percentage of users had a good experience with your website - this data is used as a ranking signal.
Aim for a score of at least 75% to maximize your rating boost.
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