Why Site Speed Matters and How To Improve It?

If you think about it, slow sites are frustrating. According to stats, a website that takes only one or two seconds to load has an average bounce rate of 9%. But if the site takes four or five seconds more to load, the average bounce rates reach 38%! Around 70% of users have stated that a site’s speed matters and greatly impacts viewers. Websites that take a long time to load adversely affect the user experience. There are only a few who actually wait for the site to load and to get their work done. But do they prefer it that way? No.

Websites are meant to load fast and maintain a consistent speed throughout the site. Even if your site includes certain moving graphics and other elements, a well-made website would never cause an issue that slows the site down.

In this short read, we will look into reasons why site speed matters and learn ways to improve it. Knowing how optimized websites for optimal performance have a high advantage over slow sites is important.

Learn more: How To Choose A Web Design Agency.

What is Site Speed?

Site speed, also known as web page load time, refers to how quickly a web page’s content appears on a user’s screen after they click on a link or type in a URL. It encompasses the entire process from when a user initiates a request to when the page is fully rendered and interactive. This includes various factors, like how long it takes for the server to respond, the size of the page files, such as images, codes, videos, and the user’s internet connection speed.

Optimizing site speed is not just about avoiding negative outcomes. It’s about enabling the benefits of a positive user experience. The thought of waiting for a web page to load at a snail’s pace is frustrating. This can lead to visitors abandoning the site, resulting in high bounce rates. Research shows that even a slight delay in loading times can significantly impact bounce rates and conversions. On the contrary, a fast-loading website keeps users entertained, enhances their overall experience, and is likely to convert them into customers or leads.

Moreover, search engines like Google prioritize fast loading websites in their search rankings, making site speed a crucial factor for online visibility. By optimizing website speed, businesses can ensure their web presence is not only user-friendly but also discoverable through search engines. Speed and performance are two of the initial features that make your customers and viewers want to stay on your site.

What is the Importance of Site Speed?

Here is a counter-question: Why would you want a slow website speed? Or why would you want to waste your time on a slow website? Site speed is the first feature your customers and viewers experience on your website. Before they even get to see your website, they notice the loading time.

Here are a number of reasons why fast loading sites matter:

1. Bounce Rates

Bounce rate is defined as the amount of visitors that leave a website without taking any action, such as filling out a form or clicking. While this can happen to websites that are badly made, the first leading reason for viewers to leave a website is because of a slow-loading site.

Users will most likely exit the page immediately and move on to the next one. They expect fast loading sites where they can get their desired outcomes immediately. According to the BBC, they discovered that they lost around 10% of their total users for every further second it took for their pages to load.

2. Conversion Rate

Site speed and performance are users’ first impressions. Several studies and questionnaires have been conducted about the importance of fast-loading sites. There has been a link to how site speed affects conversion rates. Not only do users stay on fast loading sites, but they also transform at higher rates as leads.

A couple of companies have found that fast-loading sites increase conversions. Walmart found that by improving its page loading time by one second, it increased its conversion rate by 2%. Another company, Mobify, decreased its site’s load time by 100 milliseconds, which caused a 1.11% conversion rate increment.

The point is that reducing the site loading time to even a few seconds makes a huge impact and increases conversion rates.

3. User Experience

When your site’s loading time is less, and users get the information or services they are searching for faster, that equates to an enhanced user experience. This usually causes those users to recommend your site to others and also visit your site often.

User experience can be influenced by a number of factors, including site speed and performance. People who use their mobile phones to view websites would not admire a poor response time. Slow-loading sites will provoke users to close the app without any action taken or to move on to the next website. Even if your website shows up first on the SERPs, if the loading time is slow, there is no point.

4. Improved SEO

It is a written rule that search engines prioritize websites with high-speed performance. For example, Google prioritizes getting relevant information to its users as fast as possible. Site performance is a crucial factor in Google search rankings.

When your website is optimized for search engines, it is natural that it will show up first or in the top five results of the search engine results page (SERPs). Increased search rankings mean your website will represent credibility, making people view and use your website and boosting organic traffic. Additionally, if your website is responsive, it has to perform optimally for SEO.

Read more: Difference Between UX, UI Designer, And Web Designer.

What Factors Affect Website Speed?

While the way a website is made can also affect its speed performance, other extraneous factors can do the same.

Network Conditions

If a website is designed to be lightweight and compatible, certain browsers and poor internet connections could hinder its performance. Local networking tools and the quality of the ISP’s services can impact network connectivity. However, if the website is viewed on mobile devices with 3G or 4G and even then, the website performance is slow, some issues need to be resolved on the website.

Page Weight

A website’s performance is greatly impacted by the amount of resources it needs to load. Large CSS files, video content, heavy JavaScript files, and high-definition images contribute to a webpage’s load time. To illustrate, just like a waiter serving 10 dishes instead of two or three will be slower, a page that requires more resources to load will also be slower.

As web technologies have advanced and websites have become more complex, keeping websites light regarding file sizes and loading speed has become increasingly challenging. From single-page applications with multiple JavaScript functions to pages with third-party pop-up ads and homepages with moving backgrounds, developers now have greater capability to add functionality to web pages. As a result, the average total page weight has been increasing.

Hosting location

Depending on how long your content travels to arrive where needed, it can result in slow-loading pages and network latency. If a website’s CSS and HTML files are hosted in a data center in Florida, and its images in a data center are situated in Ohio, a user from that West Coast will have to wait for all these files to travel before they show up on their device.

Learn more: What Makes A Good Web Design?

What Website Performance Factors Matter?

Load Time

The initial factor affecting website performance is the time the entire website takes to load. Almost every page on the Internet requires several HTTP requests, which means that every request should be fulfilled in time and effectively.

Round Trip Time

This is the amount of time it takes for the requests to make their round trips back and forth in order to provide you with your request and for the response to come on your device.

Page Size

This is the complete scope of all the resources that must be loaded for the page function. Page sizes impact how long it will take for the browser to load the page. It can also have a huge impact on mobile users.

Time To First Byte

This measures the time it takes between a browser request for a webpage and the first byte of the response to arrive. Overall, load time is more important, but the time to the first byte has to be considered when assessing website performance.

Ready To Experience Site Speed?

Websites that use CDN (Content Delivery Network) are known for fast loading. It is important to get your website made from the right place to reduce the loading speed time. Websleagues is known for delivering completely optimized website designs and offering services that further boost website performance and provide optimal speed; get your website redesigned for the best performance.

FAQ’S

Is loading speed a ranking factor?

Loading speed has a direct relationship with a website’s ranking factor. This means that the faster a website loads, the more probable it is to rank higher in the SERPs compared to slower-loading sites.

How can I improve website speed?

Ways of improving website speed include:

• Optimizing images
• Creating a lightweight website
• Removing unnecessary render blocks
• Use browser HTTP
• An effective third-party service for important website function

What is the average website load speed?

A study by ToolTester analyzed the top 100 web pages worldwide and found that the average page load time on a desktop was 2.5 seconds, compared to 8.6 seconds on mobile. This means that web pages load around 71% faster on desktops.

Does Google care about page speed?

Google has provided a list of support recommendations for improving websites in every manner. As one of the top search engines that people prefer, it offers effective solutions for website owners to enhance their websites. Speed is listed as the first recommendation.