Website Speed: why it matters more than ever for SEO and UX

Here’s why it matters and what you can do to improve it.

Speed impacts SEO rankings

Google has made it clear: site speed is a confirmed ranking factor.

If your website loads slowly, especially on mobile, you’ll struggle to compete even if your content is great.

Core Web Vitals (like Largest Contentful Paint and First Input Delay) are now part of how Google evaluates your site.

-> Faster sites rank higher. Simple.

Users leave slow sites fast

Studies show that 53% of mobile users leave if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load.

That’s over half your potential audience gone before they even see your content.

For Devon businesses, where local competition is growing, a slow site can mean losing leads to faster-loading competitors.

-> Faster load time = lower bounce rate = more enquiries.

It affects conversions, not just clicks

Speed doesn’t just affect traffic, it affects trust.

If your site lags, stalls, or loads awkwardly, users are less likely to buy, book, or call. The experience feels clunky, and trust fades.

-> Speed builds confidence, especially on mobile.

Common causes of a slow site

• Oversized or uncompressed images
• Poor quality hosting
• Bloated themes or unused plugins
• No caching or CDN setup
Unoptimised third-party scripts

How to Fix It

• Compress your images before upload (WebP format works well)
• Switch to a performance-focused host
• Enable caching and consider a lightweight theme
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Minify CSS, JS and HTML files

If you’re not sure where to start, I can run a full speed and performance audit as part of my Website Healthcheck.