If a web page’s load time exceeds 1 second, bounce rate grows by 123%

A user experience study found that if pages do not load within a second, there is a chance that a website bounce rate can exceed 100%. Although bounce rate has no direct impact on ranking, a large proportion indicates a serious problem with your site. If your consumers leave before they get a chance to browse around, this will result in few or no conversions.

Source: Google Think