At a glance
- Main content should appear within 2.5 seconds.
- The page should react to a tap within 200 milliseconds, and barely jump while loading.
- Speed is one of the things Google looks at, but relevance comes first.
- Oversized images are the usual culprit, and the easiest fix.
The three numbers Google uses
Nobody likes waiting for a page to load. Google measures how a page feels to real visitors with three numbers it calls the Core Web Vitals. Here are its targets for a good experience, straight from web.dev, Google's site for web developers:
| What it measures | The name | Google's "good" target |
|---|---|---|
| How fast the main content shows up | Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | 2.5 seconds or less |
| How fast the page reacts when you tap or click | Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | 200 milliseconds or less |
| How much the page jumps around while it loads | Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | 0.1 or less |
In plain English: the important stuff should appear fast, buttons should respond right away, and nothing should jump just as you're about to tap it.
Does speed affect your Google ranking?
Yes, it's one of the things Google looks at, and it's worth being precise here.
The same page adds two important notes. Good scores don't guarantee a top spot. And Google still aims to show the most relevant result, even when its page experience isn't great. So speed won't make up for a site that doesn't answer the searcher's question. Think of it as a tiebreaker you want on your side, and as a big favor to every customer who visits.
How to check your site in two minutes (free)
- Go to PageSpeed Insights, Google's free speed test.
- Type in your website's address and press Analyze.
- Look at the phone results first. Google uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking.
PageSpeed Insights reports on both phones and computers and suggests what to fix. Some of its results can come from real visitors to your site, and some come from a test run in a controlled setting. Both are useful.
What usually slows a small-business site down
According to Google's guide to improving load speed, the biggest thing on a page is usually an image or a block of text in a custom font. So the most common fixes are simple:
- Images that are too big. A photo straight off a phone can be much bigger than the space it fills on the page. Images should be sized for where they're shown.
- Old image formats. Modern formats like WebP and AVIF usually make smaller files.
- Images that aren't compressed. Compression makes the file smaller, often with no difference you'd notice.
- Too many fonts. Every extra font is one more file to download.
- Content that waits for scripts. When the main content only appears after code runs in the browser, visitors wait longer to see it.
- Distance. A content delivery network (CDN) stores copies of your site closer to your visitors, so it has less distance to travel.
What we do
We build every site with speed in mind, and our team reviews it before launch. With our Maintenance plan, we check every month that your site still passes our speed checks, so it stays quick as you add new photos and pages.
Sources
Every fact above was checked at its source on . See every number on our site and where it comes from.
- Web Vitals. web.dev (Google), Updated October 31, 2024.
- Understanding Google Page Experience. Google Search Central, Updated September 22, 2026.
- Mobile site and mobile-first indexing best practices. Google Search Central, Updated December 10, 2025.
- About PageSpeed Insights. Google for Developers, Updated October 21, 2024.
- Optimize Largest Contentful Paint. web.dev (Google), Updated March 31, 2025.