wheel - 1:53 pm on Nov 19, 2009 (gmt 0)

Yes, this isn't a ranking issue, it's a $ issue. I'm sure I've seen studies in years past where there's an increase in sales for decreased page load time.

Two takeaways: 1) do this for your pocketbook, not the rankings. It's good business sense. (and you don't have to sacrifice design. You may have to sacrifice huge graphics - but that's 'poor' design in most cases anyway). 2) We've got Google telling us relatively concretely that here's a factor you can use to boost your serps. This is a good thing. They don't normally tell us this.