Did you know that most web users expect your website to load in less than four seconds? If it takes any longer, most will simply leave. That means you could be losing a lot of potential customers because of your slow website. Lost customers means lost profit. If you’re running a small business, you can’t afford to lose customers. You need to capture every last visitor. A fast website is essential if you hope to make a decent profit.
In this post, we’ll tell you more about why speed matters so much. We’ll show you some real reasons you should be worried. Most importantly, we’ll show you what you can do to improve it. Providing a speedy service is crucial in today’s modern world. How does your website stack up?
The biggest problem with a slow website is that it’s bad for user experience. Your visitors are looking for answers, and they want them fast! Studies have shown that most web users will disappear if the website takes longer than five seconds to load. Web users have short attention spans! They might wait around for a big company they know and trust. But, if you’re a small business, you’ve got to grab attention quickly. Statistics show this is particularly important for gaming websites, where lag time is not acceptable! A slow website suggests an unprofessional approach, and visitors will quickly leave.
The next big issue lies with Google. As a small business, you rely on search engines like Google to send people to your website. A key part of your search engine optimisation strategy is to rank highly for your keywords and relevant services. However, part of Google’s algorithm takes into account loading speed. If your website takes ages to load, Google doesn’t want to send people there. After all, they’re looking to provide a fast and efficient service too. A fast website means better Google ranking.
So, what can you do to speed things up?
Well, there are two main factors involved here. The first is the your core architectural, foundational speed. That is dictated by your web host. If your site is hosted on a shared server, you’re sharing resources with lots of other websites. That means your website could load slowly as other sites drain the resources. One thing you can do is upgrade your hosting solution to a dedicated server. Take a look at Server Mania – dedicated servers for more information on fast hosting solutions. When you have a dedicated server, you get all the speed and resources to yourself.
Lastly, you can take a look at the design and build of the website itself. Lots of messy code and tons of images can slow the loading time down. After all, your site has to process a lot more information every time someone accesses it. Work with your designer to trim your coding down, and compress image sizes. You can also start caching your website, which means you can load it faster when someone clicks online.
We hope we’ve convinced you to think long and hard about your website loading speed. Take the steps mentioned here, and make sure it’s lightning quick!
