Google PageSpeed Insights: Why a high score matters

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, where competition is fierce and user attention is fleeting, the loading speed of your website can make all the difference.

Even if your website or online store is thriving in terms of traffic, conversion and sales, underestimate the importance of a high score of PageSpeed could have unexpected consequences in several key aspects of your business.

In this article, we'll explore the reasons why your website speed matters more than ever, even when current metrics seem to indicate otherwise.

PageSpeed and Core Web Vitals: The Age of Speed

Since Google announced that speed is an important ranking factor for SEO, the creation of fast web pages has gained even more relevance.

The PageSpeed score not only affects loading speed, but also the overall user experience on your website.

‍Google values page experience and uses Core Web Vitals metrics to evaluate how your website performs with real users under different conditions, such as on mobile devices with 3G connections or when accessing unique URLs that are not cached, and for a specific period, usually 28 days. These metrics are:

1. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): measures the time it takes for the largest element to appear on the screen after the page loads.

2. FID (First Input Delay): measures the time it takes for the browser to respond to the user's first interaction with the page, such as clicking a button or typing in a text box.

3. CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): measures the amount of change in position of the elements on the page after it loads.

Google uses these metrics to determine the position of a web page in search results. Websites with better Core Web Vitals will rank better in search results, which means that they will be more visible to users.

How to optimize your website for Google's Core Web Vitals

There are a number of elements that you can optimize to improve your Core Web Vitals, such as:

• Use smaller images and videos.
• Optimize the code of your website.
• Use a content delivery network (CDN).
• Decouple style sheets and JavaScript code.
• Use a performance testing tool to identify areas for improvement.

The key lies in get approved in the Core Web Vitals evaluation provided by Google, determined by the result of “Outdone” or “Not outdone.” However, it's vital to remember to select the “Source” option in the upper right corner. This ensures that you can view the data covering the entirety of your website instead of just limiting yourself to the URL being measured.

There are websites that achieve exceptional business performance despite their poor performance. However, you can gain new business benefits by optimizing a low PageSpeed score.

Why a high PageSpeed score is important

We have researched and compiled a list of more significant aspects that could be affected by a low PageSpeed score and/or errors in Core Web Vitals (CWV). The following points are supported by Google's documents on web performance, as well as by our own experience in internal projects.

Improve your ranking in Google's organic search results

In previous algorithm updates, Google has attached great importance to “page experience” as a determining factor for positioning.

This term encompasses the quality of the user experience on a website, according to the Core Web Vitals, and, therefore, the page load speed (PageSpeed) also has an indirect effect on this aspect.

It's important to note that the top priority always lies in the relevance of the content. However, for online stores, where two pages could be equally relevant to a product search, the page experience plays a decisive role in positioning in organic search results.

Reduce cost per click (CPC) in Google Ads

If you advertise through Google Ads, you're probably familiar with the term “Quality Level”, which measures the performance of your ads. This score is made up of three elements, one of which is the “Landing page experience”. Each component is rated as “Below average”, “Average” or “Above average”, indicating possible areas for improvement.

If the “landing page experience” is below average, Google's recommendation is clear: optimize loading speed and adaptation to mobile devices.

A high quality score not only increases the chances for ads to generate clicks and conversions, but it also directly affects the placement of the ads on the results page and the CPC.

Example: An online store experiences an increase in impressions and clicks, and a reduction in CPC of more than 50%.

A real example demonstrates this effect in the online store of one of our customers. The two screenshots correspond to the same campaign, with no changes between the two measurement points. However, the cost per click decreased by more than 50%, and more clicks and visits were achieved at a lower total cost. The significant change was the launch of a new online store specifically optimized for a high PageSpeed score.

Reduce the number of clicks without conversion

It's not just about save on the cost of clicks generated by your paid advertising ads. You may also be paying for clicks that never translate into visits to your online store because the landing page loads too slowly.

According to a study carried out by Google, there is a direct correlation between the loading time of a page and the risk of the user leaving it: the longer the load time, the greater the risk of the user “bouncing”. Google states that 53% of visitors leave the page if a mobile website takes more than 3 seconds to load.

In the context of e-commerce, 3 seconds isn't a long time, considering that online stores often rely on functionality, external scripts, and large images.

However, a high bounce rate due to slow loading can result in losses, not only of potential conversion revenues, but also of clicks as a single interaction.

This behavior isn't limited to a particular advertising platform; it's universal. If you've invested in paid Google, Meta or LinkedIn campaigns, you could be paying for clicks that don't generate views.

Improve key performance indicators (KPIs)

Fundamental marketing KPIs, such as bounce rate, session duration, number of pages viewed and conversion rate, are indirectly affected by your website's PageSpeed score, as they reflect the quality of the user experience. Therefore, optimizing the PageSpeed score can have a positive impact on these indicators.

It's difficult to predict the exact impact that optimizing the PageSpeed score will have on your business, as it varies from page to page. However, there are documented examples of web pages that have achieved remarkable results when working on Core Web Vitals. Google has detailed different cases on how CWV optimization has influenced the key numbers of some prominent companies.

Therefore, although the specific advantages cannot be anticipated with certainty, the opportunities are significant, especially for online stores, where even a small improvement in the conversion rate can have a notable effect on the business.

Improve the tracking budget

When the Google bot explores your website to index it, it allocates a limited amount of time to crawl as many pages as possible. This interval is known as the “tracking budget” of a page.

Optimizing the performance of your website is crucial, since Fast loading allows Google to crawl more URLs within the allotted time. Therefore, to maximize your tracking budget, it's recommended to ensure optimal performance.

This is especially important for online stores with numerous unique pages that need to be indexed, such as products and categories.

Reduce your carbon footprint

Surprisingly, your website also leaves a carbon footprint. The reason behind this is that your platform resides on a server that consumes energy. As the amount of data that the server must send to users increases, energy consumption increases, and this is directly related to the technical performance of your website.

According to data from httparchive.org, the median size of a web page has grown from 468 KB in 2010 to more than 2000 KB today. This fact implies that each time a user visits a website, a greater amount of energy is used.

Beyond the need to contribute to the 17 global sustainability goals, there is also a business reason to take action in this regard.

An improvement in the PageSpeed score could translate into potential reductions in hosting costs, in addition to helping to reduce the risk of server overload during times of high demand, such as Black Fiday or Cyber Monday.

In addition, in a world increasingly focused on sustainability, environmental and social commitment can represent a fundamental competitive value.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to determine if your website meets sustainability criteria. La Carbon Calculator for Web pages can analyze and estimate the CO2 footprint associated with your platform.

Conclusion: Beyond current metrics

While your online store may be succeeding on several fronts, underestimating the power of a high PageSpeed score could be limiting your potential. From a better ranking in search results to greater efficiency in advertising campaigns, an improved user experience and a reduced carbon footprint, the advantages of optimizing the speed of your website are numerous and multidimensional.

If you are interested in delving into this topic and Get the most out of your online experience, do not hesitate to Contact usS for more information and personalized advice.