ColumnistsMay 17, 2022
What You Need to Know About the Google Analytics 4 RolloutColumnistsJun 14, 2022
The Smart Lab: The Importance of Page Speed Optimization
A fast website helps land sales, writes Smart Age Solutions founder and CEO Emmanuel Raheb.
Emmanuel Raheb is the CEO of Smart Age Solutions, a digital ad agency and coveted Premier Google Partner. With nearly 18 years’ digital marketing and e-commerce experience, Raheb is passionate about helping and strategically growing national jewelry brands and local retailers alike. Contact him at eraheb@smartagesolutions.com.
There are many factors that go into a successful jewelry website, such as site design, styles featured, and special offers. But there’s also a hidden factor that greatly impacts your website’s success: page speed.
How fast your website loads and how quickly your customer can access the page they’re looking for severely affects your income. Speed (or lack thereof) is one of the fastest ways to lose an engagement ring or jewelry sale.
What Is Page Speed?
Page speed is how long it takes for your full website page to load on the user’s browser. This includes what you see on the front end, such as text, images, and video, as well as what you can’t see, like JavaScript files, tracking scripts, CSS (which controls your site design), and other HTML code.
Every element that creates your website affects your page speed.
Why Is Page Speed Important For SEO?
Page speed is one ranking factor (out of many) determining how Google chooses which jewelry websites to display in their search results. Page speed is measured separately on desktop and mobile, so both must be considered.
It does no good to have a fast website on desktop if most people are shopping your site on mobile. To rank for SEO, you have to succeed on both platforms.
Google views each user experience separately, but also considers them as a whole when ranking sites.
Page Speed Affects Your Customer’s Experience
Customers are impatient; they don’t want to wait. Every second a person waits makes it more likely they’re going to leave without making a purchase.
Here’s what happens when you have a slow website.
Related stories will be right here …
How fast your website loads and how quickly your customer can access the page they’re looking for severely affects your income. Speed (or lack thereof) is one of the fastest ways to lose an engagement ring or jewelry sale.
What Is Page Speed?
Page speed is how long it takes for your full website page to load on the user’s browser. This includes what you see on the front end, such as text, images, and video, as well as what you can’t see, like JavaScript files, tracking scripts, CSS (which controls your site design), and other HTML code.
Every element that creates your website affects your page speed.
Why Is Page Speed Important For SEO?
Page speed is one ranking factor (out of many) determining how Google chooses which jewelry websites to display in their search results. Page speed is measured separately on desktop and mobile, so both must be considered.
It does no good to have a fast website on desktop if most people are shopping your site on mobile. To rank for SEO, you have to succeed on both platforms.
Google views each user experience separately, but also considers them as a whole when ranking sites.
Page Speed Affects Your Customer’s Experience
Customers are impatient; they don’t want to wait. Every second a person waits makes it more likely they’re going to leave without making a purchase.
Here’s what happens when you have a slow website.
1. You Create a Poor First Impression
Image is everything. How you present yourself and your jewelry store online is all that your customers know. Your website is often the first encounter someone has with your jewelry business, so it’s critical that you take page speed seriously.
2. You Have Poor Audience Statistics
Page speed affects how Google views the health of your website audience.
Having a high bounce rate (percentage of users who quickly leave), spending a small amount of time on the site, and having a low number of page views are all signs of a website that’s failing. How fast your website loads and the quality of the user experience is what controls these numbers.
It’s well-known that a site load time of three seconds or more will cause you to lose more than half your audience immediately. Studies have shown that even a one-second delay in loading a website page can lead to a 11 percent loss in page views.
This means that with a slow site, you lose much of your money spent on digital marketing because it’s going to waste. Even before you’ve had a chance to introduce yourself, your customers have already made the decision to leave.
3. You Have Poor Conversion Rates
If users are forced to deal with website delays, your sales will suffer. You’ll see this within your site conversion rates. Recent studies have shown that one out of five shoppers will abandon their cart if a website’s pages load too slow.
As a total, this costs companies upwards of $3 billion a year in lost revenue. Just a one-second delay in loading a page can reduce your sales conversion rates by 7 percent or more.
Even Amazon isn’t immune to page speed issues—it’s been reported that any delay in page load speed can cost Amazon over $1.6 billion dollars in potential sales for the year. So, imagine how much a slow site could cost you.
Google Has Confirmed Page Speed Is a Ranking Factor
Google recognizes the effect of page speed on the user experience. Core Web Vitals, which are one of Google’s new methodologies to improve search results, assesses a website’s performance, responsiveness, and visual stability—all pillars of an optimized site.
How To Optimize Your Website Speed
Here are three quick and easy ways to immediately increase your website’s speed.
1. Start with Your Host
Choosing a good host is not something to take lightly. This is one area where you shouldn’t skimp on server resources. When you contract with your hosting provider, you should always purchase enough resources (computing power and memory) to not only serve your current audience but also to anticipate any traffic increases from your marketing campaigns.
Google recognizes the effect of page speed on the user experience. Core Web Vitals, which are one of Google’s new methodologies to improve search results, assesses a website’s performance, responsiveness, and visual stability—all pillars of an optimized site.
How To Optimize Your Website Speed
Here are three quick and easy ways to immediately increase your website’s speed.
1. Start with Your Host
Choosing a good host is not something to take lightly. This is one area where you shouldn’t skimp on server resources. When you contract with your hosting provider, you should always purchase enough resources (computing power and memory) to not only serve your current audience but also to anticipate any traffic increases from your marketing campaigns.
You’ll also want to consider where your host is physically located. The closer the servers are to where your audience lives, the faster your site will be. You don’t want to choose a host thousands of miles away to serve a local audience.
2. Reduce Your CSS, Scripts, Images, and File Sizes
Images are the biggest culprit in slowing down web pages. Before you upload anything to your site, be sure to check the file size and use an image optimization tool such an Tinify to reduce the size of your images without losing quality.
You’ll also want to reduce the CSS on your site and limit the number of scripts and plugins running when the site loads. The more you can reduce your dependency on outside resources, the faster your website will be.
3. Convert Your Images to WebP Format
Another way to reduce the impact of images on your site speed is to use the new WebP image format instead of the traditional .jpg, .gif, or .png files.
WebP images are much faster at loading and do not lose image quality as other types do when being reduced. Keep in mind that WebP is still new but is quickly becoming the best practice in having a fully optimized site.
As you can see, there are many reasons why you should increase your website speed. If your site seems sluggish, it’s a sign that you need a new website. Over time, your jewelry website will only continue to become slower and you’ll lose sales.
Every dollar you invest to improve your website speed will yield many times more in income gained. When done correctly, a website tune-up quickly pays for itself. It’s just smart business.
Smart Age Solutions provides SEO and page speed services to optimize your website for you. Don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help you succeed!
More on Columnists
The Latest
CollectionsMar 31, 2026
Mejuri Adds Silver to ‘Puzzle’ CollectionMejuri’s popular collection of 18-karat yellow gold vermeil rings debuted in sterling silver alongside new “Puzzle” slider charms.
CollectionsMar 31, 2026
Buddha Mama, Ashley Longshore to Host Pop-Up in DallasThe Miami-based jewelry brand and the NYC-based artist will be in Dallas from April 9-11.
SourcingMar 31, 2026
NDC Designates April 8 as 'World Diamond Day'The initiative invites those in the industry to share stories on social media highlighting the meaning and impact of natural diamonds.
Brought to you by
Protect Your Customers and Your BusinessYou deserve to know what you are selling–to protect your customers as well as your business and your reputation.
SourcingMar 31, 2026
GIA VP Jillian Wolk to Take Over at Tracr Wolk’s first day on the job as CEO of Tracr, De Beers Group’s blockchain platform, will be May 1.
Weekly QuizMar 26, 2026
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
EditorsMar 30, 2026
Tom Moses Looks Back on His Decades at GIA Moses, who will leave the lab in May after nearly 50 years, discusses his start in the business, gemstones that stand out, and what’s next.
TrendsMar 30, 2026
Oscar Heyman Debuts First Spring CatalogThe new catalog, which showcases 35 one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry, is a compliment to the company’s popular holiday catalog.
Brought to you by
Is This You? Every Jeweler Has This Problem; We Have the Solution.Every jeweler faces the same challenge: helping customers protect what they love. Here’s the solution designed for today’s jewelry business.
SourcingMar 30, 2026
Rio Tinto Hauls Last Load from DiavikProduction has ceased at the Canadian diamond mine, which has yielded more than 150 million carats of rough diamonds in its 23-year run.
MajorsMar 30, 2026
Tanishq Opens First New England LocationThe store opening marks the 10th United States location for the India-based jewelry retailer.
MajorsMar 27, 2026
Saks Global Has Changed Its Mind About Closing These 3 StoresTwo Saks Fifth Avenue locations, one in Florida and one in California, and one Neiman Marcus store are off the chopping block.
IndependentsMar 27, 2026
Jimmy West, Longtime LJG Executive Director, Dies at 72West, who started in the art department at the Leading Jewelers Guild in 1979, is remembered for his patience, kindness, and dedication.
CollectionsMar 27, 2026
Itä’s ‘Yarí Whirl’ Ring Tells Every Side of the StoryIn the “Tesoro” version of the ring, our Piece of the Week, each side of the gold hexagonal nugget has a unique colored gemstone design.
WatchesMar 26, 2026
Q&A: Citizen Watch America President Jeffrey Cohen on Eco-Drive’s 50th AnniversaryCohen discusses the evolution of Citizen’s light-powered technology, the brand’s cross-generational appeal, and tariffs.
IndependentsMar 26, 2026
Peter Smith Pens Book on Human Behavior in Sales“Essentially Human: On Sales and Salespeople" reveals the underlying human traits and behaviors of the most successful sales professionals.
CollectionsMar 26, 2026
Lionheart Celebrates 13 Years of ‘Cassandane’The collection features symbols of love, luck, and light, based on the story of Queen Cassandane and Cyrus the Great of Persia.
Events & AwardsMar 26, 2026
NAJA, Instappraise Introduce New ScholarshipIt’s the third scholarship to be launched as part of the partnership to help appraisers advance their professional credentials.
Events & AwardsMar 26, 2026
JA Still Accepting Entries for 2026 CASE AwardsThe deadline for entries in the jewelry design competition has been extended to April 3.
SourcingMar 25, 2026
Rob Bates Steps Down as JCK News Director After 28 years with JCK, the veteran industry journalist is launching his own publication on Substack called The Jewelry Wire.
GradingMar 25, 2026
New York’s Natural History Museum, Wiley To Build Minerals DatabaseWiley said the project will give scientists worldwide access to the American Museum of Natural’s History renowned mineral collection.
CollectionsMar 25, 2026
Boochier Turns Flower Friendship Bracelets Into Fine JewelryThe “Flower Puff” collection looks to beaded flower friendship bracelets from childhood, turning the silhouette into nostalgic fine jewelry.
Policies & IssuesMar 25, 2026
Community for Ethical Jewelry to Host Bench Jeweler Shortage WebinarSet for April 2, the webinar will discuss how the jewelry industry can address the workforce gap.
IndependentsMar 24, 2026
Lisa Bayer, Illustrator and Beloved Member of the Muse Family, Dies at 64Bayer, founder of Lisa Bayer Designs, is remembered as “a bright light in every room.”
AuctionsMar 24, 2026
White Diamonds Shine In Christie's Jewels Online SaleThe highest-grossing lot was a Tiffany & Co. ring set with a flawless, emerald-cut diamond of 10 carats.
SourcingMar 24, 2026
AGTA Solidifies Tucson Dates For 2027-2029The next three editions of AGTA GemFair Tucson will feature a five-day show that includes Sunday.
WatchesMar 24, 2026
Christie’s Names New Senior Specialist, WatchesFormer Sotheby’s executive Tom Heap has taken on the London-based role.
CrimeMar 23, 2026
NYPD Looking for 3 Jewelry Store Robbery SuspectsThe group of women allegedly robbed two Catbird stores and one Gorjana location on the afternoon of March 9.
