Not that long ago Google came out and said that page load time will be a new SEO ranking factor which quickly ensued an abundance of questions and worry that has spread through search sphere we all live in today. The reality is that page load time is important but it is not going to kill your site rankings just yet (unless it is reaaallly bad). Matt Cutts states that the ranking factor is important but it is lower on the list of other ranking factors that would be used first prior to anything else.