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HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons hosts the most downloaded sports podcast of all time, with a rotating crew of celebrities, athletes, and media staples, as well as mainstays like Cousin Sal, Joe House, and a slew of other friends and family members who always happen to be suspiciously available.
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Ever wondered if your website's loading speed really matters that much? The Financial Times conducted a bold experiment that answers this question with hard data—and the results should make every website owner pay attention.
In this episode, I dive into FT.com's fascinating study where they deliberately slowed down their website for different groups of users. Some visitors experienced the site normally, while others faced delays ranging from one to five seconds on every page load. The Financial Times tracked how these delays affected user behavior over an entire month, focusing specifically on how many articles people read during each session.
The findings are eye-opening. While users might tolerate a slow-loading page once, persistent slowness led to dramatic drop-offs in engagement. Less engaged visitors abandoned the slow site almost immediately, while even loyal readers showed reduced activity when faced with delays. FT estimated these slowdowns would cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds in the short term, potentially escalating to millions in lost revenue over time if not addressed.
What makes this study particularly valuable is that it moves beyond theoretical SEO discussions about Google's preferences and shows the direct impact of site speed on actual user behavior and business outcomes. As mobile networks have evolved significantly since this 2016 study with faster connectivity becoming standard, today's users likely have even higher expectations for performance. The message is clear: site speed isn't just a technical consideration—it's directly tied to user satisfaction, engagement metrics, and ultimately your bottom line.
Ready to take your website's performance seriously? Book a free demo at keywordspeopleusecom/demo where I can show you how our tools help you create content that truly engages your audience. And don't forget to subscribe for more practical SEO insights that can transform your digital presence!
SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com
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"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Chapters
1. Welcome to Best of SEO Podcast (00:00:00)
2. FT.com's Bold Site Speed Study (00:02:29)
3. Four Test Groups: Measuring Delay Impact (00:04:38)
4. User Engagement and Device Differences (00:06:05)
5. Speed's Impact on Revenue (00:08:37)
6. Episode Wrap-up and Demo Offer (00:10:34)
342 episodes
