Why Website Speed Matters

by Andrew R. Researcher

As an internet user, you don’t want to spend the whole day waiting for a webpage to load. If the information on the page isn’t critical, you’ll most likely close the tab.

Website pages load as a result of transfer of data packets from your internet-enabled device, through the internet service provider, to data centers where the information you need resides. A response data packet, containing the page’s elements, then travels back.

For a fast website, the process of conveying data packets to and fro takes just a second. For sluggish websites, things can get really slow. There are several factors responsible for website speed. Also, there are several reasons why website speed matters.

In this article, we’ll take a look at everything to note as regards website speed and why it matters.

IMPORTANCE OF WEBSITE SPEED

The difference between gaining a new reader, and losing one can be 1 second. In the same vein, you can lose a thousand dollar customer just because your website loads 2 seconds lower. It’s important that your website loads fast; here are more reasons.

First Impression

When your website loads sluggishly, impression is the first sentiment that’s affected. Internet users have subconsciously learnt to attribute page load speed directly to the standard of the business in question. Companies like Amazon, Shopify, Google, etc. have extremely fast page load speed. A Google page loads in less than a second.

The rate at which your page loads calls for instant judgment from the user. Fast page loads signifies trustworthiness and professionalism. A slow speed indicates the opposite.

High Expectations

The internet is so connected and accessible these days that users have a high expectation on high everything. The established brands have worked hard to raise the standard, making it difficult for startups. Hence, if you are creating a website, make sure it loads fast.

User Experience

The internet age has seen everything move at a fast pace. The same goes for customer experience. All over the internet, owners are creating unique experiences. Internet user don’t want to waste too much time on one page. If it’s not loading fast enough, the move to another. Users are used to, and long for, for the seamless experience.

Bounce Rate

As a website owner, one major metric you should monitor is bounce rate. Bounce rate is the measure of the number of people who leave your site after viewing just one page. Page load speed contributes greatly to bounce rate. As a negative metric, you should reduce your bounce rate as much as possible. Though, there is a healthy amount of bounce rate for your website.

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO WEBSITE SPEED

Several factors influence the speed of your website. When adequately optimized, these factors make your website load faster.

· Hosting Server: You should only use a hosting service with a reputation for speed, and buy a plan that conveniently caters to your needs

· Amount of bandwidth in transit: When there are plenty widget and plugins on a page, the packet in transit becomes too much. This affect website speed. Reduce plugins as much as you can.

· Javascript and CSS optimization: Heavy and unnecessary Javascript and CSS files can cause your page to load very slow. As much as you can, learn to optimize these files.

CONCLUSION

Several elements influence website speed. Spend time optimizing your website for increased load rate. The investment in a fast website pays off in the long run. Check the search ranking for your website with serpstat ranking checker.