What is the first thing that users observe when they view your website? You are right about the page speed, or so-called page loading time. Fast-loading pages create the best first impression in your mind, and there are no chances of bringing a negative user experience. When websites load slowly, they create frustration among the users allowing them to choose another similar website rather than yours.
When your website page loading time is good, it, in return, brings low bounce rates, more conversions, higher ranks in organic search, and much more. Overall it creates a better user engagement and experience which in turn brings high return visits. When the loading time is slow, your website will see less engagement and a bad reputation, costing you money. So, what to do now? Reduce your page load time, and you can see a great difference in your marketing and sales. Such improvement will bring in great traffic and leads that can turn into potential customers. Let’s check this article to improve your website page loading time.
Table of Contents
Website speed optimization Importance
We know about Page load time; it is nothing but a performance metric of the web that showcases how much time is needed for a page to load and show on the user screen.
Let us see how website speed optimization can be used as a key strategy for website success:
- conversion
- visibility
- usability
Conversion
The conversion itself explains converting your leads into customers. Trying to convert your leads means they are doing what you wanted them to do, like buying your products, registering for a webinar, subscribing to newsletters or downloading a guide, etc.
It states the page loading time decides how many sales are done in a day. A one-second delay in page loading nearly costs you a 7% reduction in your conversion, which could cost a lot each year.
Visibility
The load time of your website can significantly impact how easily users can find your site. Google has been considering the responsiveness of websites in its ranking algorithms for many years. Not only does responsive design help users interact with your site more effectively, but it also ensures that the website displays properly on mobile devices.
Usability
When a user visits your website, he/she checks for the page speed, load time, and how well it responds to requests. The user will be happiest and most satisfied if a website performs well. You can build a strong brand only by building a great user experience with your website.
How to increase the speed of your website
Before understanding how to increase page speed, test your page speed using free tools. Once it’s perfect, then start optimizing your website. Many ways are possible to increase your website speed, and we have listed a few of them:
Use of Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A content delivery network is a group of servers that distributes geographically. It delivers content to end-users considering their location. When you host the website on a single server, all user-required tests are sent to the same hardware, and the time needed to process each request increases. With CDN, user requests are redirected to the nearest server, and this results in quicker content delivery and an increase in performance.
Image Optimization on your website
When you browse an eCommerce website, we like to see the product images, graphics, and much more as they are eye-catching. This way, a user is engaged on that page for a longer time. But, if the images used are of larger files, it will cause the problem of slowing down the website speed.
So, we do have a choice of reducing the image size by compressing them without disturbing the quality of the image. We have many tools such as ImageOptim, Krake, JPEGmini, etc. You need to follow a few steps while converting as it might take some time, but at last, it is worth it. There is another possible way to reduce the image size, by using HTML responsive images and attributes. It can adjust the image size depending on the user’s displayed properties.
The number of plugins must be reduced
When we design websites, we often use plugins. They are dedicated third-party features that we use on our website. Such plugins need additional resources to run them, often causing the website to load slower. When the website is still active, we try to add more plugins, and the number keeps increasing. While adding new plugins, some old ones are still unused and left idle. For the better performance of the website, you need to check out all plugins you installed and remove the unnecessary ones.
By running a performance test, find out which plugins are reducing your website speed. The page speed also depends on how many plugins you installed and the quality. Few plugins come with more scripts and styles that need more database space. Avoid installing such plugins and keep only those that are required.
Reduce the use of JavaScript and CSS files
If your website contains many JavaScript and CSS files, these are treated individually by visitors’ browsers and slow down the website. Minifying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript documents will speed up your website. Tools like WillPeavy, Script Minifier, or Grunt actions can do this quickly.
Reduce file size using Gzip Compression
Gzip compression has many advantages as it reduces the server response time and HTTP requests. It helps reduce the file size by compressing them before they are sent to the browser. When the user tries to view the site, the user-side browser unzips the files and displays the content. It is an incredible way of reducing space and increasing productivity. It works on any files on your website; you need just to write a few lines of code in your website backend.
Reduce the use of external scripts
Any loaded scripted web page factors, such as external commenting systems, CTA buttons, or lead-generation popups, must be included in the webpage’s HTML source code. It will ensure that the pages load faster and do not jump /shift when loading.
Do not use redirects
We recommend running a site scan to identify redirects on your page. Many tools like Screaming Frog could scan and easily identify the redirects. We need to check for the website redirects as their presence creates additional HTTP requests impacting the site’s performance. Once you find the redirected pages see if they are important or not. Keep only critical ones and remove the unnecessary ones.
Conclusion
Most users see that your web page opens within 3 seconds, or you might lose more leads and money.
Remember to evaluate key rules for a website’s success like conversion, visibility, and usability. Keeping these factors in mind, test your website speed and select the pages & features necessary for your website. Optimize your web pages to load faster and keep focusing on pages that bring in more conversion and success.
For more details, contact Ahbiv Digital Agency; we are here to help you with more rules to follow for your website speed optimization.
