Site speed is the time it takes for your web pages to load content and become usable for visitors. In SEO terms, it's both a direct ranking signal and an indirect performance multiplier because faster sites keep users engaged, reduce bounce rates, and generate more conversions. Google evaluates speed through Core Web Vitals, three specific metrics that became ranking factors in 2021. LCP measures how long your largest visible element takes to load (aim for under 2.5 seconds). FID tracks how quickly your page responds to first user interaction (under 100 milliseconds). CLS measures visual stability during loading (under 0.1). These aren't the only speed metrics, but they're what Google officially weights in rankings. Speed matters more for some queries than others. For commercial keywords where users compare options quickly, a 3-second load time versus 1 second can cost you 30-40% of potential traffic through higher bounce rates. For informational content where users commit to reading, you have slightly more tolerance, but still need to hit Core Web Vitals thresholds to stay competitive. Common speed killers we fix at Ottawa SEO include unoptimized images (should be WebP format, lazy-loaded, and properly sized), render-blocking JavaScript, bloated CSS files, and slow server response times. Canadian hosting matters more than most businesses realize. A Toronto-based site on a Phoenix server adds 40-60ms of latency for Ontario users, which compounds through every resource load. For our portfolio sites, we target LCP under 1.8 seconds and overall load completion under 3 seconds on 4G mobile. This typically requires image optimization, critical CSS inlining, deferred JavaScript, and a CDN for static assets. The performance gain from 4 seconds to 2 seconds is dramatic. Going from 2 seconds to 1 second still helps but shows diminishing returns unless you're in a razor-thin competitive niche. Test your speed with PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest, but always validate with real-user data from Google Search Console's Core Web Vitals report. Lab scores don't always match field performance, especially with dynamic content or third-party scripts.