There’s a huge difference between site speed and page speed. While site speed refers to the number of page views while navigating the website, page speed can be recognized as ‘page load time’. It is nothing but the time required to load content on a particular web page. Besides, it also indicates the time a web browser takes to receive the first packet of information from the web server.
Regardless of how you measure the speed, faster speed is always preferred by those who have built an online presence. With time, individuals have found that fast page speed help in enhancing the online rank and boost sales conversion.
The Impact Of Slow Web Page Speed
Reduces Customer Satisfaction
Today with the change in technology, prospects just don’t prefer going through mobile friendly sites. They actually need websites that load faster. Findings reveal that web browsers abandon sites if it takes a longer time to load. Forty percent of visitors don’t look further if the site doesn’t load in less than three seconds. They can stay patient as compared to the situation with sites on their desktops. Moreover, a second matters most because this increases the bounce rate, decreases conversion rate and reduces page views.
Affects Search Engine Ranking
Earlier, reports stated that that page speed was nowhere related with page rank. But, based on a diligent analysis, visiting sites through a mobile browser or device with less processing speed can impact the weighted ranking factor. The correlation between page rank and page speed still prevails. The trend has also changed because popularly used search engines love to list faster sites. Speed is essential when a local mobile search comes into the picture.
Impacts User Experience
A website with less speed can have a negative effect on user experience. Consumers may not go through the snapshot when the site doesn’t meet certain standards. Moving further, search engines have set the bar high because they always prefer to be consistent with the market share. Nevertheless, an insight tool can be used to estimate the site’s performance and offer tips to improve on specific areas.
Reduces Sales & Conversions
Retailers who market products from an E-Commerce website, would have juggle with components if page speed is poor. It’s pointless to manage an eye appealing site when the load time is less. Visitors would engage with the site for a less time span and may not be one of the customers. This affects the number of orders and may compel site owners to compensate for annual lost sales. Statistics state that a load time of 3 seconds or more can result into a dip of sales conversion. This is not the situation when the domain loads in a second.
Tips For Improving Web Page Load Speed
According to Google, site speed is one of the parameters which the search engine uses for determining the rank. Additionally, web crawlers would be moving around a few web pages that eventually affects indexing. So, here are some ways you can improve the page speed.
Compress Files
If your site comprises of many web pages, then you should use a software for file compression. This aids in reducing the size to 150 bytes. Try not to use the software for images, instead compress them with an image editing tool so that you retain image quality.
Optimize Code
When your site is getting developed with the help of CSS and JavaScript, optimizing code does make sense. Apart from code comments and unused code, commas, spaces and unnecessary characters should also be deleted. Unused code should be excluded when the developer is finalizing on the layout.
Reduce Redirects
The wait time obviously increases when the browser gets redirected to another page. Additional redirects certainly increase the page load time. This ruins the online experience especially when the visitor is browsing through an E-Commerce website.
Use Browser Caching
Always set the time for browser caching. This would reduce the time of reloading the web page whenever the browser visits the site again. In many situations, the period is set for a year unless and until the site would undergo frequent changes.
Improve Response Time
The amount of web traffic and resources actually affects the response time. So, to improve the aspect, seek a solution for slow database queries and slow information transfer. Ideally, server response time should not be less than 200ms.
Optimize Visual Elements
Ensure that the images are not large as they need to be. Take care of format in which they are posted. We suggest PNG rather than storing images in JPEG format. Use CSS for creating templates related with buttons and icons. You would also be able to upload images with fewer HTTP requests. This considerably reduces the load time when users needn’t wait for multiple image loads.
How Loyal Web Solutions Helped One Website In Boosting Loading Speed Performance?
One of our client approached LWS with the issue, the website was tested for different factors. The loading time was as high as 22 seconds while visitor loss was estimated to be 36%. It was suggested to reduce page weight so that the speed could be cut down to 9 seconds. Check below snapshot to understand the poor website loading speed performance when approached to us.
It was important to compress and optimize images. Furthermore, leverage browser caching had to be considered to cut down network delays. Speed also could be improved by reducing server response time.
After some time, the professionals of LWS strived to do a good job. According to the performance report on Aug 28, 2017, the fully loaded time came down to 2.6 seconds and page size was reduced to 1.70MB. The efforts are commendable since the PageSpeed score rose to 99%. The results could be observed from the snapshot mentioned below.
Ahead, the LWS team walked an extra mile to reduce web page load time. The performance results state that the load time was as less as 2.997s. The HTTP requests were 85 under fully loaded condition. Information transfer was phenomenal because 1,356 KB was recorded under ‘Bytes In’. To know more, go through the snapshot below.
In brief, slow web page speed not only affect your organic search results but it will make huge impact on your business as well. So, if your website is running slow then you should think about it and need to get professional help as soon as possible.
Author Bio
By Vishal Patel
Vishal Patel is the Chief Technology Officer at Loyal Web Solutions, where he has been a key leader since 2011. With a deep understanding of web technologies and a passion for innovation, Vishal has guided the company to consistently deliver top-tier digital solutions. His expertise in the industry ensures that every project is executed with precision and excellence.