How Much Revenue Does Latency Cost You?
A 1-second delay in page load time reduces conversions by up to 7%, according to Akamai and Google research. For a site with $1M monthly revenue, that is $70,000 lost per second of unnecessary latency. Use the calculator to quantify your specific revenue exposure.
Latency Revenue Impact Calculator
Calculate monthly revenue lost to slow page load times and the gain from optimization.
Latency Impact by Load Time
| Load Time | Bounce Rate Impact | Conversion Impact | User Perception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1s | Baseline | Baseline | Instant |
| 1 - 2s | +10% | -7% | Fast |
| 2 - 3s | +32% | -14% | Acceptable |
| 3 - 5s | +90% | -25% | Slow |
| 5 - 10s | +123% | -40% | Very slow |
| Over 10s | +150%+ | -60%+ | Abandoned |
Source: Google/SOASTA research, Akamai State of Online Retail Performance, Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey. Figures are indicative averages across industries.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does website latency cost in lost revenue?
Research from Akamai and Google shows that a 1-second delay in page load time reduces conversions by approximately 7%. For an ecommerce site with $1M monthly revenue, each additional second of load time costs roughly $70,000 per month. Walmart found that for every 1-second improvement in load time, conversions increased by 2%. Amazon estimated that 1 second of delay would cost $1.6 billion annually.
What is a good page load time target?
Google recommends targeting a Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5 seconds for a good user experience. Total page load time should ideally be under 2 seconds for ecommerce and under 3 seconds for content sites. Studies show that 53% of mobile users abandon a page that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Does latency affect SEO as well as conversions?
Yes. Google has used page speed as a ranking signal since 2010 for desktop and since 2018 for mobile (the Speed Update). Core Web Vitals including LCP, INP (Interaction to Next Paint), and CLS are now explicit ranking factors. Slow pages not only lose revenue directly from lower conversions but also receive less organic traffic, compounding the revenue impact.
What causes website latency?
The main causes of high latency include: server response time (TTFB), large unoptimised images, render-blocking JavaScript and CSS, lack of browser caching, no CDN or poorly configured CDN, too many third-party scripts and trackers, large DOM size, and serving content from geographically distant servers. Most sites have multiple contributing factors.
What is the fastest way to reduce page load time?
The highest-impact, lowest-effort improvements are: (1) implementing a CDN if you do not have one (can reduce latency by 50 to 80ms for global users), (2) enabling image compression and next-gen formats like WebP, (3) eliminating render-blocking resources, (4) enabling browser caching with proper cache headers, and (5) deferring non-critical JavaScript. A CDN alone often delivers 15 to 30% load time improvement.
How is the latency cost calculated?
The calculator uses a model based on published research showing approximately 7% conversion rate improvement per 1 second of load time reduction. It extrapolates your current conversion rate back to an ideal 1-second baseline, then calculates the expected conversion rate at your target load time. The revenue difference is the estimated monthly gain. This is an indicative model; actual impact varies by site, product, and audience.