Do Page Speeds Really Matter?

By: Team WTI | Date: April 29, 2019

Categories: Search Engine Optimization,

Tags: Mobile vs. Desktop, Page Speeds,

Here’s a question you might ask yourself when you see a whole lot of numbers and data regarding your website. It’s hard to sift through everything and make sense of what matters and what you can set aside to look at later. Page speeds are something that might come up. Page speed is how fast a page loads for guests to your website. There are mobile and desktop speeds. Do page speeds really matter that much to how well your website performs? If you have low mobile numbers but high desktop numbers what does that mean? Let’s explore page speeds and why they matter for your website.

Mobile vs. Desktop

One of the first things to distinguish with page speeds is the difference between mobile and desktop. Mobile page speed is how fast a page loads on guests’ mobile devices. Desktop speed is how fast it loads on their desktop device. These are noted separately because they can actually be different from each other. According to Google’s Pagespeed Insights, 90-100 is fast, 50-89 is average, and 0-49 slow. However, these speeds should be taken with a grain of salt. If you see a low score for mobile, don’t assume your website is doomed! It can definitely be fixed in most cases.

Why Does It Matter?

Page speeds on your website matter because they are how fast a page loads on the site. We get it–we’re a broken record at this point. But–think about this point for a second. If you’re on your phone and trying to quickly find information about a restaurant’s hours or if a store carries a product, you want the page to load quickly and display everything easily. When your page takes 10 seconds to load, most people will close it and try another search. You want your page speeds to be as quick as possible for your site because your guests don’t want to wait. While you might have a bit more patience for desktop users because tabs are easier to navigate and you’re usually not in a time crunch to find out some information, it’s still important to try for top speeds on both mobile and desktop.

How Do You Fix It?

Page speeds can be low for a variety of reasons. Google’s Pagespeed Insights is invaluable for finding out what your site could improve to improve your page speeds. It could be anything from images needing compression (this can really make a difference in speed!) to removing unused CSS to eliminating render-blocking resources. Team WTI is happy to help you improve your page speeds. If you’re interested in a more robust plan of optimizing your website for search, we would love to discuss our SEO plans with you.

Team WTI is Here to Help

When you’re not sure where to go next with your website, it’s time to call Team WTI! Contact us today to learn more about our services including web development, web hosting, and digital marketing services like search engine optimization, social media management, email marketing, online reputation management, pay-per-click, and more.