Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen—who’s made it his work to test what web users really want since the mid-1990s before most people even had the internet—says this about page loading speed:

“When sites shave as little as 0.1 seconds of response time, the outcome is a juicy lift in conversion rates. Today or the 1990s? Same effect.”

He goes on to add that web users prefer fast websites over gorgeous ones. No VP of marketing aims for a “sluggish” experience in any area of business, so it’s super important that your website operates quickly and effectively for your bottom line.

Yet, That’s Not the Only Reason Your Website Should Load Quickly…

Why? Because Google assigns better rankings to websites that do so.

Remember: Google aims to boost websites with the most helpful information to the top of its search rankings. As a for-profit company, they need to do this better than anyone else to stay in business. After that—at a general level—they consider user experience. Since you already know users want fast websites, that’s something you need to aim for.

How Do You Know if Your Website Loads Quickly?

You’re probably thinking to yourself right now: But different people have different connection speeds. Won’t their experiences naturally differ?

Fortunately, it’s easy to learn where you stand. Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool tells you (and appropriately so) in mere seconds. Simply enter your URL and Google will assign you a score of 1-100: with 100 meaning “perfect.” Not only this, but the tool also provides separate scores for mobile and desktop versions of your website (you do have both, don’t you?): adding an extra layer of clarity.

That’s the easy part. The more challenging part is making the changes required to address any shortcomings. You won’t need a skilled developer to take care of all of these (you can in fact use a simple WordPress plugin to get away with some of the changes), but you’ll probably need one to execute most of them.

Examples of Websites that Load Quickly

Believe it or not, you can easily shell out thousands of dollars to speed up your website page-loading times. The good news is you don’t need to break the bank and can get close enough if you’re on a budget.

Check out these websites so you know what to shoot for:

1. Copyblogger

Beyond just speed, this website’s a true thought leader in the online marketing space. Click around on their site a little bit to see for yourself.

Take note of how their mobile website loads so quickly that you’ll feel like you’re clicking on your desktop computer.

2. Medium.com

This website delivers news stories according to your interests. Like Copyblogger, it loads quickly and features a simple design.

Wrapping Up

You know your customers want everything right now, and the same goes with your website. With this in mind, quick page-loading times are important not only for their benefit but to keep your Google rankings high as well.