Technical

Page Speed

The measurement of how quickly content loads on a web page, affecting both user experience and search engine rankings.

Quick Answer

  • What it is: The measurement of how quickly content loads on a web page, affecting both user experience and search engine rankings.
  • Why it matters: Ensures search engines can crawl, index, and trust your site at scale.
  • How to check or improve: Check crawling directives, canonical tags, and response codes.

When you'd use this

Ensures search engines can crawl, index, and trust your site at scale.

Example scenario

Hypothetical scenario (not a real company)

A team might use Page Speed when Check crawling directives, canonical tags, and response codes.

Common mistakes

  • Confusing Page Speed with Canonical URL: The preferred version of a web page specified using the rel=canonical tag, telling search engines which URL to index when duplicate or similar content exists.
  • Confusing Page Speed with Indexability: The ability of a web page to be added to a search engine's index, determined by technical factors like robots directives, canonical tags, and crawlability.

How to measure or implement

  • Check crawling directives, canonical tags, and response codes

Check your site's indexability with Rankwise

Start here
Updated Jan 1, 2025·3 min read

What is Page Speed?

Page speed measures how fast your web page loads and becomes interactive. It's both a ranking factor for search engines and a critical component of user experience.

Page Speed Metrics

  • TTFB (Time to First Byte) - Server response time
  • FCP (First Contentful Paint) - When first content appears
  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) - When main content loads
  • TTI (Time to Interactive) - When page becomes usable
  • Total page load time - Complete page load

Why Page Speed Matters

User experience:

  • 53% of mobile users leave if page takes >3 seconds
  • Each second of delay reduces conversions
  • Faster sites have lower bounce rates

SEO:

  • Direct ranking factor since 2010
  • Core Web Vitals ranking signal since 2021
  • Affects crawl efficiency

Improving Page Speed

Server optimizations:

  • Use fast hosting
  • Enable compression (gzip/brotli)
  • Implement caching
  • Use a CDN

Frontend optimizations:

  • Optimize and compress images
  • Minify CSS and JavaScript
  • Reduce render-blocking resources
  • Lazy load below-fold content
  • Use modern image formats (WebP, AVIF)

Testing Page Speed

  • Google PageSpeed Insights
  • GTmetrix
  • WebPageTest
  • Lighthouse
  • Chrome DevTools

Why this matters

Page Speed influences how search engines and users interpret your pages. When page speed is handled consistently, it reduces ambiguity and improves performance over time.

Common mistakes

  • Applying page speed inconsistently across templates
  • Ignoring how page speed interacts with canonical or index rules
  • Failing to validate page speed after releases
  • Over-optimizing page speed without checking intent
  • Leaving outdated page speed rules in production

How to check or improve Page Speed (quick checklist)

  1. Review your current page speed implementation on key templates.
  2. Validate page speed using Search Console and a crawl.
  3. Document standards for page speed to keep changes consistent.
  4. Monitor performance and update page speed as intent shifts.

Examples

Example 1: A site standardizes page speed and sees more stable indexing. Example 2: A team audits page speed and resolves hidden conflicts.

FAQs

What is Page Speed?

Page Speed is a core concept that affects how pages are evaluated.

Why does Page Speed matter?

Because it shapes visibility, relevance, and user expectations.

How do I improve page speed?

Use the checklist and verify changes across templates.

How often should I review page speed?

After major releases and at least quarterly for critical pages.

Related resources

  • Guide: /resources/guides/robots-txt-for-ai-crawlers
  • Template: /templates/definitive-guide
  • Use case: /use-cases/saas-companies
  • Glossary:
    • /glossary/canonical-url
    • /glossary/indexability

Learn More

/glossary/core-web-vitals/glossary/mobile-first-indexing/glossary/bounce-rate

Explore Next

GuideTemplateUse case

Related Terms

Canonical URL

SEO

The preferred version of a web page specified using the rel=canonical tag, telling search engines which URL to index when duplicate or similar content exists.

Indexability

Technical

The ability of a web page to be added to a search engine's index, determined by technical factors like robots directives, canonical tags, and crawlability.

Prerequisites

Canonical URLThe preferred version of a web page specified using the rel=canonical tag, telling search engines which URL to index when duplicate or similar content exists.IndexabilityThe ability of a web page to be added to a search engine's index, determined by technical factors like robots directives, canonical tags, and crawlability.

See also

Core Web VitalsA set of three specific metrics that Google uses to measure user experience on websites: loading performance (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS). Learn how to measure and improve your Core Web Vitals scores.301 RedirectA 301 redirect is a permanent HTTP redirect that passes most link equity to the new URL.302 RedirectA 302 redirect is a temporary HTTP redirect used when a URL change is not permanent.Canonical TagA canonical tag is an HTML link element that tells search engines the preferred URL for a page.Canonical TagA canonical tag is an HTML link element that tells search engines the preferred URL for a page.

Next steps

GuideTemplateUse case

Put GEO into practice

Generate AI-optimized content that gets cited.

Try Rankwise Free
Newsletter

Stay ahead of AI search

Weekly insights on GEO and content optimization.