How important is page speed?
I have mentioned elsewhere when discussing SEO that the length of time it takes for a page to load can have not only an impact on how well your pages do in search engine results, but can also have an impact on how easy or frustrating a site can feel to a visitor.
Simply put, even if you web pages look great when they have finished loading, if you have slow loading web pages load because they have been built with too much bloated code, large images and are unnecessarily complex, your visitors and potential customers are not likely to stick around. Plus they’ll also be using more mobile network data than is necessary.
With some thought, planning and a little effort by the web designer, many of these frustrations can be overcome.
Google’s PageSpeed Insights
This is a tool which Google provides so that the overall load time of an individual web page can be assessed. The page score is given out of 100, with specific weightings given to different aspects of the page load, as a representation of a user’s perception when accessing the page.
I am not going to be providing any kind of tutorial here, because I simply want to show some examples of websites and how well or how poorly they score in Google’s Page Speed Insights.
Google’s PageSpeed Insights Examples
In fairness to the website owners of the some of the examples I have shown, I have blanked out the website address. Many of those examples have been built using WordPress by web design agencies. I want to stress that I didn’t cherry pick the worst examples I could find, this was a random selection.
The examples I have shown with scores over 90 are websites we have built here at Targa.
Try a couple of real live examples for yourself. These links will test the mobile version of the web page, but you will see a tab in the upper left of the screen where you can view the desktop analysis too. Note that the page will open in a new tab.
Live page speed test: Targa Web
Live page speed test: Car Body Repairs
Other Web Design Posts
- Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?
- Why are websites so slow?
- Selecting images for web pages
- Customers, Personas and User Stories
- Websites That Add Value
- Page Speed and Website Builders
- The Importance of Page Speed
- Web Design Pricing Transparency
- Website Builders
- Responsive Websites
- Do I need a mobile friendly website?
About Daron Harvey: I began building and managing websites way back in 1996, and I'm now in my 27th year of being professionally involved in website design, UX and eCommerce best practices, including management of large multi-lingual multi $Billion global websites. Following the global pandemic I founded Targa Web Solutions, specialising in website design, Search Engine Optimisation, User Experience (UX/UI), testing and consultancy.
