Boost if loading website under 1 sec

[seoanalytics]

Hello,

Can I increase my ranking if my website loads in under 1 second ?

Thank you,

[ThompsonPaul]

Nope. The use of page speed as a (minor, and very specific) ranking factor doesn't work that way. Never has.

Page speed only applies to a small percentage of search queries and it's used as a disqualifier for really slow pages (think over 15 or 20 seconds). Meaning if your page is really slow compared to your competitors, their page will likely be preferred over yours. But small incremental improvements in page speed won't result in ranking boosts. (And Google's on record as saying that even slower pages will earn SERP results if they're content is significantly better for the user's query.)

Improve page speed for the usability of your site, not because a small incremental speedup will change rankings.

Hope that helps?

Paul

[seoanalytics]

It is good to know. I thought getting from 4 second to 1 second would help but apparently it doesn't much but is more for the user from what I understand.

[Mobilio]

Well there are few "loadings website" parameters - TTFB (time to first byte), initial rendering or document complete.

It's great if TFFB is under 1s including network connection and DNS resolving. 
It's fantastic if initial rendering is closer to 1 sec too.
Would be great if document complete is near 3-4-5 secs.

But this won't help you with ranking... well just little bit even insignificant.
But that would help you in CRO because users want to visit faster sites.

[seoanalytics]

Good to know that 5 seconds is still good. That you very much for the detailed explanation.

[Smileworks_Liverpool]

I have increased our speed dramatically by getting an upgrade to our server from our hosting company.  I noticed a big increase in traffic and ranking for the pages that were slower than 10s in total but you have to be aware that there are lots of different metrics surrounding speed and what you are seeing inside google analytics can sometimes be confusing.

For example, there are metrics for the time it takes for the entire page to load but I have a plugin called 'lazy-load' that loads all the above the fold content immediately and is smart about loading bigger items further down the page.  There are lots of tools if you google 'waterfall speed test' or something similar which will show you precisely what's slowing the page up.

But under 5 seconds is fine and we have many number one national and local rankings loading in 5, 6 and sometimes 8 seconds depending on the volume of traffic.

It's more of a 'penalty for being slow' than a 'prize for being fast' although a really quick loading website is impressive from a user perspective.

The next month I migrated our site to HTTPS and saw an immediate bump in rankings across the board, so this is one where google is giving out algorithmic love - if you like.

Also be aware of mobile loading times vs desktop and make sure you divide it up into countries and localities. These types of data dimensions in google analytics will give you a much better picture.

I've found that if someone really likes what they see in the SERP, so a strong headline and meta description, nice data markup (schema) and additions like sitelinks or hyperlinks to their precise search then they will wait longer for a page to load.  And the only way to really test this is with hotjar or a recording tool so you can see what users are actually doing on the site.

I would also look at bouncerate or 'adjusted bounce rate' if you google adjusted bounce rate you can set a timer after 10 or 20 seconds and  discount people who are reading your article, getting what they want and then bouncing.  Because these are not seen by google as bounces but are in analytics. It's east to set up and there's a guy called 'measureschool' where I learned how to do it, it's a step by step thing.

So I would consider focussing your energies elsewhere for a while to try to move the dial in the right direction. Because sub 1 second is crazy fast. Even for AMP.

[seoanalytics]

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I agree with you there is probably more a penalty if you are slow than a bonus if you are fast or average.