Speed Correlation for Business Attorneys

Ryan Amen | August 11, 2025

Page Speed Ranking Correlation for Business Attorneys

Study Shows Page Speed Gives Business Lawyers a Competitive Edge in Search Rankings

At WebGrowEZ, we don’t just talk about SEO best practices — we test them. Recently, I hired a research team to conduct a multi-market correlation study to see what factors might separate the top-ranking local service businesses from those further down in the search results.

We examined 20 U.S. markets — an even split between 10 major metropolitan areas and 10 medium-sized cities. In each market, we analyzed five professional service-based industries:

  • Business Lawyers
  • Doctors
  • Accountants
  • Financial Advisors
  • Chiropractors

For each industry, we took the top three organic results on the first page and compared them with the top three organic results on the second page for the search term “City + [Industry]” (in this case City + Business Lawyer) We then ran detailed comparisons across a variety of factors — including Google PageSpeed Insights scores for both mobile and desktop performance.

Some of the categories of ranking signals we looked at were:

  • Page Speed
  • Unique Content
  • Keyword Optimization
  • Links pointing to the ranking page
  • Micro-formatted content (like Schema)

The Surprising Page Speed Gap for Business Lawyers

While our analysis is ongoing, one early insight stands out for Business Lawyers.

Across the 20 markets we studied, the first-page results had a clear speed advantage:

  • Mobile speed: An average of 9 points higher (a 13% improvement) than their second-page counterparts
  • Desktop speed: An average of 4 points higher (a 5% improvement)

When we break this down further by market size, the results get even more interesting:

Major Metros (10 cities)

  • Page 1: Mobile — 74.77, Desktop — 85.03
  • Page 2: Mobile — 64.62, Desktop — 83.66

Mid-Sized Metros (10 cities)

  • Page 1: Mobile — 71.87, Desktop — 85.67
  • Page 2: Mobile — 64.73, Desktop — 78.57

In both market sizes, Page 1 sites consistently outperformed Page 2 sites in mobile speed, but the desktop gap was especially pronounced in mid-sized metros — nearly 7 points faster on average. This suggests that in less densely populated markets, desktop performance may play an even bigger role in separating first-page results from those pushed to page two.

When we split the results into mobile and desktop performance, a clear pattern emerges.

On mobile, first-page business lawyer websites consistently outperformed those on page two in both market sizes. In major metros, page one averaged 74.77 compared to 64.62 for page two. Mid-sized metros showed a similar gap, with page one averaging 71.87 versus 64.73 for page two.

On desktop, first-page sites also held the advantage — but the difference varied more between market sizes. In major metros, page one averaged 85.03 compared to 83.66 for page two. In mid-sized metros, the gap was much larger: 85.67 on page one versus 78.57 on page two.

Why This Matters for Local Business Lawyers

Google has been clear that Core Web Vitals — which include page loading speed — are part of its ranking considerations. Faster sites don’t just perform better in SEO; they also:

  • Reduce bounce rates (fewer people clicking “back” when a page takes too long to load)
  • Improve user experience, especially on mobile devices
  • Lead to more contact form submissions and phone calls

In other words, speed isn’t just a technical SEO metric — it’s a business metric. For lawyers who rely on high-value leads, losing even a small percentage of potential clients due to a slow site can add up to tens of thousands in lost revenue annually.

What’s Next in the Study

This is just one slice of the data. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing other findings and similar findings for doctors, accountants, financial advisors, and chiropractors.

Some questions we’re exploring:

  • Do certain industries have higher average speed scores than others?
  • Are mobile speed improvements more closely correlated with rankings than desktop speed?
  • How much does speed matter compared to other on-page SEO factors?

If you’d like to see more detailed insights — including full breakdowns by industry and market size — sign up for my newsletter. You’ll get early access to the full study and practical tips for applying these findings to your own business website.

Click here to join the newsletter and get the full report

A Note for Businesses in This Study

If you’re a business lawyer and would like to see where your site lands in the rankings and speed comparisons, I’d be happy to walk through it with you and talk about some ideas for improvement. Just reach out and we can schedule a time to discuss.

Ryan Amen
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