Recently, Google released a statement saying that website speed will be one of the ranking factors for their search engine. This means that if your website is slow, it could rank lower in search results than websites that are faster. So, do you need to make your website faster? The answer is yes – here’s why.
But first some website facts in no particular order.
- The average website loading time is 8 seconds
- 47% of web users expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less
- A 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions
- Amazon found that every 100 milliseconds of latency cost them 1% in sales
- Google found that if their search results page loaded just one second slower, they would lose about 8 million searches per day
So, does your website need to be fast?
There are a few reasons you need a fast website. First, people are impatient. They don’t want to wait for your website to load. Second, Google takes page speed into account when ranking websites. The faster your website is, the higher it will rank in search results. Third, people are more likely to leave your website if it takes too long to load. Fourth, a slow website can hurt your business because customers will go to your competitors instead.
Want to speed up your website?
There are a number of ways to improve the speed of your website. Below are some tips:
It all starts with a trusted high speed host
Use a quality web host that is known for its fast loading times. A reliable host can make a world of difference.
Learn about hosting your website with us.
Image optimization
Using images on your website is unavoidable, but the key is to use images wisely. The best time to load an image is when it’s within the user’s viewport – that means, as the user scrolls down the page, new content should load. It’s also important not to have too many images on one page because that will slow it down even more. Use lazy loading where possible so that images are only shown when they come into view.
Clean code
Minimize HTTP requests. Combine files whenever possible and use CSS instead of images where possible.
When you build a website, it’s easy for design elements or JavaScript functions to interfere with its load speed. It’s important to test your website over and over again until all elements work well.
Caching
Caching is also important because it speeds up the loading time of your website. It does this by temporarily storing web pages, images and other resources to reduce the server response time for users who frequently visit the site. Caching can be done with a plugin or a caching service.
CDN – Content Delivery Network
A content delivery network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers that deliver web page content through geographic proximity. A user’s request is routed to a nearby server which reduces network congestion and increases download speed resulting in a better user experience on your website. This works well if you have an international audience or multiple websites sharing one host. We offer free CDNs to all our customers at no extra cost! Learn from our experts
While having a high-speed website is important, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Your site must be well-optimized and designed for mobile devices, you need to have an effective SEO strategy in place, and you need to continuously measure and analyze your website’s performance so you can make improvements.
If you want to ensure that your site is performing at its best and driving results for your business, contact Adept Creative today.
We can help you improve every aspect of your digital ecosystem so you can see better results online.
