As SEO specialists, people tend to think that our job is 100% focussed on improving the beginning of a website’s sales funnel; increasing website traffic. Whilst this may be true in part, it’s not the whole story.

Before we jump into the title tags, URL structure, prospecting for quality links, and all that good SEO stuff, we always need to take the time to step back and look at the bigger picture.

Who is this website targeting?

How easy is it for the user to complete the goal set for the site?

What is the goal for the site? Email signups? Form submissions? Purchasing products?

No matter what the goal, there is one thing that will universally have people bouncing off your site more than anything else; slow page loading speed.

I just need to think of all the times I’ve navigated onto a slow-loading page and clicked the back button because I got bored waiting.

Companies are leaving huge amounts of money on the table by treating page load speed as an after thought in the design and build of their website. If your page is loading in longer than 5 seconds, you’ve failed as a digital marketer – it’s as simple as that.

Need proof? Allow me to show you a tool that Sharpe Digital has specifically made to demonstrate to people how much more money they can make by reducing the load time of their website.

Here’s How To Use It

• Work out your current page-load speed using GTMetrics.
• Check your analytics to find your website’s current unique monthly visitors.
• Use the slider to enter your website’s current monthly visitors, value per sale or lead, conversion rate and current load speed.
• The tool then tells you in graphical format the increased revenue you can expect by reducing your site’s speed by 1, 2 or even 3 seconds.

1) Choose Currency

US Dollar : $
UK Pound : £

2) Current Situation

1. How many monthly visitors does your site currently receives?
   400,000

2. What’s your average order/sales value?
   $75

3. What’s your website’s conversion rate?
   5%

4. What’s your website’s current page load speed?
   10 seconds

Estimated Revenue Gain

Using data from research carried out by Akamai and Dynatrace, and given your website’s current situation :

A page load speed reduction of 1 second will give an estimated revenue increase of $41,268

A page load speed reduction of 2 second will give an estimated revenue increase of $85,992

A page load speed reduction of 3 second will give an estimated revenue increase of $134,136

Reduction in Site Speed (seconds)