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It defies logic that so many people are still either unaware or unconcerned about the speed with which their pages load, given that Amit Singhal announced over 10 years ago that Google would henceforth be adding it as a ranking signal.

Add to that the fact that studies indicate a high bounce rate for sites taking even 10 seconds to load, and that according to Google DoubleClick, over 50% of a site’s visitors will bounce if a page hasn’t loaded within 3 seconds – if you’re ignoring the speed of your pages, you’re losing it – whatever it is for you.

We always pay a lot of attention to page-load speed when we do an audit, as the causes are often indications of problems that should be fixed even if page speed wasn’t important for rankings or users. We’ve seen an appalling number of slow loading pages up in the 10-second plus range, with more than a few taking over a minute to load.

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There are a number of things that can be done to speed up a website. Some of them, you may be already familiar with… or have at least heard of. Hopefully, the tips below will help you add some more tools to your kit to make your sites load faster. Pageload speed can affect your pages’ rankings, so it’s well worth the effort.

I have 11 different websites, all on various different WordPress configurations. By implementing the following, I’ve been able to achieve a fairly consistent page-load of 2.0 seconds or less on all of them, which is good enough to keep me from frustrating my sites’ visitors.

This is by no means an all-inclusive tutorial on page-load optimization – just the basics. But it’s enough for most sites to achieve a respectable page-load speed.

Image optimization

Image optimization isn’t just a matter of reducing the file size as much as possible without pixelization of the image. There are a number of things that can have a real impact on your page-load. Choosing the right

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Very few services such as those offered by SEOs can be readily priced, without having a good idea of what the scope of the project will be. In reality, if someone gives you a “package price” without knowing more about what the job will entail, one of two things is probably true:

1. they’re quoting you high pricing, in case the scope is extensive;
2. they’re quoting you a limited scope, regardless of what the job really calls for.

Either way, you won’t be getting the best value possible for your money – you’ll either end up paying too much or receiving too little. Sometimes both.

What to Watch Out For

If someone quotes you pricing for optimizing your site without even knowing its URL or having a chance to at least check it out superficially, then you-re most likely talking to a rank amateur – although charlatan is a possibility. Just knowing how many pages your site includes is not enough information to allow anyone to put together an accurate cost proposal. A conscientious SEO will generally take some time to scrutinize a site before providing pricing for optimization – there are simply too many variables to consider and the good ones like to provide their clients what they really need – no more, no less. The larger the site, the more time needed, in order to detect all the issues worth attacking. In some instances, such as a large ecommerce site, a full site audit may be called for.

Likewise, if an SEO offers a “guaranteed” ranking, run, don’t walk! NOBODY can guarantee anything more than a conscientious effort. Rankings are fluid and in a constant state of flux, as well as

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