Webmaster Tools/Time spent downloading a page

[JodiFTM]

Hi!

Is it preferable for the "time spent downloading a page" in Google webmaster tools to be high or low?  I've noticed that this metric rapidly decreased after I moved my site to WP Engine and I'm trying to figure out if it's a good or bad thing.

Thanks!

Jodi

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[MattAntonino]

Lower times are better so this is a definite improvement for your site.

[ThompsonPaul]

It's definitely a very good, Jodi, and is one the significant benefits of moving to WPEngine. They do a superb job with caching, which speeds up your site, as well as automatically enabling a high-performance Content Delivery Network (CDN).

The biggest benefit to a faster site is for user experience. Your visitors will experience a faster website which is a much more enjoyable experience, encourages them to remain on your site longer and can encourage return visits and increased trust.

Site speed is also one of the factors Google includes in their ranking algorithm. This is only true for a relatively small percentage of the top search queries though, so it likely won't make a significant difference for most sites.

The improved usability of your site is by far the bigger payoff.

Congratulations on the step up!

Paul

P.S, You can also look at site speed by page in Google Analytics under Content > Site Speed. Alternatively, you can use a tool like webpagetest.org to get a very real-world measurement of the speed users in different areas of the country/world will experience on your website.

[JodiFTM]

Thanks!  I didn't realize that I could see site speed in Google Analytics.