You have just set up your website, and it's the best website in the world. Everything is in place, the text, the font, the body of the website, and every piece of code that you’ve written is perfect. But your website is nowhere near the first page, or second, or third, or even the fourth or fifth
What if your website was way better than the others, or what if it didn’t even pass the standard of being a website? Here’s the answer: the average user skips the website if it takes too long to load. If not site speed, there could be other reasons why your website still doesn’t show up.
Here in this blog, we will discuss why the loading speed of your website matters, other potential reasons, and their fixes.
Why Google Site Speed Matters?
Imagine you’re in a hurry searching for something important on Google, you finally find the website you’re looking for, and click on it and…and…the website is still loading. Would you wait another second to wait for the site to load when there are numerous other sites that offer the same stuff you’re looking for? No, right?
In this fast-paced world, everyone’s in a hurry. If they don’t get what they want from you, they will immediately move to another website. This leads to an increase in the bounce rate of your website. A bounce rate is the rate at which people skip your website without going through your content. The higher the bounce rate the higher the chances that Google will stop ranking your website, despite your amazing content and website structure.
These are some of the reasons why Google site speed matters:
Improves The Retention Rate
The retention rate is the rate at which users return to your website for a certain information and for any other purpose. The faster the website loads, the greater the chances that a user will return to your website. A website that loads faster and responds quickly to user interactions is often ranked at the top.
Enhances User Experience
Google site speed is directly related to the experience the user is going to have while surfing your website. When the loading speed of your website is fast, the user experience increases significantly. The quick responses to the user interactions help users enhance their experience.
Increases Conversion Rate
Whether you’re an online business or a blogging website, conversions are your highest priority. You want more sales and more engagement. But if your website's loading speed and response speed are too slow, then you would fail to rank, let alone any conversions.
In contrast, if your website loads faster and has a good response speed, it will help drive more conversions. So, improve your Google site speed to ensure the users have a smooth experience while going through your website.
Other Potential Reasons And Their Fixes
If not loading speed, then what? There could be other possible reasons behind your website not ranking in Google. Here is a list of reasons why your website might not be ranking and how to fix them:
Crawling & Indexing Issues
You wrote a great book, but what is the use if it doesn’t get to the publication house? Similar is the case with your website, even if it has the best content, what is the use of such content if Google bots can’t find it or understand it? Tags like robots.txt and can prevent bots from crawling and indexing your website.
Fix: Check the robots.txt and noindex tags, ensuring they’re not blocking the important pages accidentally. You can submit an XML file to Google Search Console to help the bots crawl your website and index your website.
Poor Backlinking
Backlinks are like indicators to Google that your website is a reliable source of information. If you have a high-quality backlink from a reputable or credible website, then Google would favor your website as a strong and reliable source of information. But if you have poor, spammy, and broken links, you would fail to rank.
Fix: You can reach out to reputable websites to secure genuine backlinks. You can also write for other websites in your niche and put links back to your website. Also, try to fix your broken backlinks or disavow the broken ones.
Content Quality
The quality of your content is what determines if the user stays or not. If the content doesn’t match the needs, then the user will just move on to the next site even if it is the best website. Google primarily ranks those websites whose content matches the user's needs and is of the best quality.
Fix: Before writing and publishing your content, understand who your target audience is. Are you covering everyone on the internet, or is it just a spectrum of people? If it’s a large audience, understand their age group and their academic level. Are they regular people who want conversational answers, or are they industry professionals who understand the systematic tone? The answer is to just research and research.
Mobile Friendliness
Wherever you walk, you can see a smartphone in someone’s hand. The majority of the population uses a mobile to access the internet. The best website is designed in a way that it is adaptable to any mobile device, so if your website is not mobile-friendly, Google won’t rank you.
Fix: Make your website mobile-friendly by optimizing the images and other content on your website. Prioritize a responsive design for your website so that it can adapt itself to the users’ device type.
Irrelevant Keywords
If your page has great content, but it doesn’t match the keywords you’re using, then Google won’t rank you. Using irrelevant keywords in your content prevents Google from understanding what your content is about. Also, if you’re only focusing on high-competition keywords, then your efforts would be for nothing.
Fix: The only fix is to match the content with the keywords you’re using. Go for long-tail keywords with a better search intent. Implement primary keywords naturally in the headers, and secondary and tertiary keywords throughout your content with a decent density to make the best website.
Conclusion
Now you’re ready to set up your website. Whether you’re starting a new website or updating your existing one, these fixes can help you set up a foundation for your website and turn out beneficial for you in the long run. After implementing all these fixes, all that is left is to simply wait and let Google do its homework to index and rank your website.