Page speed is the amount of time it takes for a web page to load and display its content, including images, text, and other elements. It’s a critical factor for both user experience and search engine optimization (SEO).
A fast-loading website provides a better user experience, leading to higher engagement, lower bounce rates, and increased conversions.
Core Web Vitals, introduced by Google in 2020, are a set of metrics that measure the user experience on a website, focusing on loading, interactivity, and visual stability. The three main components of Core Web Vitals are:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – Measures the time it takes for the largest content element on the page to become visible to users. A good LCP score should be under 2.5 seconds.
- First Input Delay (FID) – Represents the time it takes for a web page to become interactive and respond to user input. A good FID score should be under 100 milliseconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – Quantifies the visual stability of a page by calculating how much elements move during the loading process. A good CLS score should be under 0.1.
Improving page speed not only enhances user experience but also positively impacts SEO. Google considers page speed as a ranking factor, favoring fast-loading sites in search results. To assess and improve page speed, consider using tools like:
Some common ways to optimize page speed include:
- Compressing and resizing images
- Minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files
- Implementing browser caching
- Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Utilizing lazy-loading techniques