I conducted a study on the homepage performance of the members of the Estonian E-commerce Association, using the Google PageSpeed Insights tool. I collected and analyzed the data at two points in time: January 2023 and July 2025. I measured website performance from a mobile device perspective on a 4G network. The results show a clear positive trend, which is great news for both online store owners and their customers!
A Historical Look: January 2023
In January 2023, the picture regarding the performance of Estonian e-commerce websites was quite bleak. I analyzed the websites of 446 members, and the results were as follows:
- Good performance: only 1.8% of websites
- Performance needed improvement: 23.1% of websites
- Poor performance: as much as 75.1% of websites
This showed that most Estonian e-stores offered mobile users a slow and potentially frustrating experience, which in turn negatively affected their visibility in search engines.
Significant Progress: July 2025
In just two and a half years, the situation has improved significantly! In July 2025, the results were much more optimistic:
- Good performance: rose to 4.9%
- Performance needed improvement: grew significantly to 63.8%
- Poor performance: dropped significantly to 31.3%
This is an impressive shift! The share of websites whose performance needed improvement has almost tripled, meaning that a significantly larger portion of e-stores have started paying attention to their technical condition. The decrease in the share of poor-performing pages by more than half is also a very positive sign.
Why is Page Performance Important for SEO?
Website loading speed and overall performance are critical SEO factors, especially in a mobile environment. Here are the main reasons:
- User Experience (UX): A fast website provides a better user experience. If a page loads slowly, users tend to close it faster and go to a competitor. Google and other search engines prefer websites that offer a good user experience because it is important for their users.
- Google ranking factor: Google has repeatedly confirmed that page speed is an important ranking factor, especially since the Core Web Vitals update. Slower pages may drop lower in search results, even if their content is relevant.
- Mobile indexing: Since Google increasingly indexes websites based on mobile versions (mobile-first indexing), mobile page performance is even more critical. Poor performance on mobile means your page may not appear in search results at all or will appear in very low positions.
- Conversion rates: As mentioned in our previous article Latest SEO Studies: What Do the Numbers Tell Us?, even delays of a few seconds in loading speed can significantly reduce conversion rates (e.g., making purchases, filling out contact forms). This means a direct impact on your business results.
What does this tell us and what to do next?
The improvement in the performance of homepage websites in the Estonian e-commerce sector shows that businesses have begun to realize the importance of website speed and user experience. This is a positive step towards digital maturity.
Although the improvement is significant, there is still a long way to go. A large portion of websites (over 30%) still have “poor” performance, and nearly two-thirds still need improvement. This means that many Estonian e-shops still have significant potential to improve their SEO and business results simply by optimizing website performance.
Conclusion: Keep investing in the technical optimization of your website! This is not just about “pleasing” search engines, but above all about providing a better user experience, which ultimately means more satisfied customers and greater success for your e-shop.