When you are visiting a website for the first time, and it takes a few seconds to load, what will you do? Chances are you’ll going to leave that site by closing the window and probably never to return again.
What’s the explanation for that? It is simply because people (users, site visitors, readers) expect a fast website. They don’t like to wait. Without any reasons, people just have a high expectation when it comes to the sites they visit. Fast websites give great impression while those websites which are very slow leave a bad one. People see fast websites as professional and can be trusted. Slow sites, on the other hand, are seen as defective and undependable.
This is why, if you have a website for your business, you should not underestimate the importance of speed for your website. When people want to check something on the internet, they might check several sites to find what they are looking for. Therefore, it would be beneficial if your website has a fast load time.
Here are some reasons why website speed matters.
Provide better user experience
This is the number one reason why you should speed your website up. Having a website that is quick to load provides an enhanced experience to users. User experience is all about making a simple yet remarkable experience for your site visitors. There are two crucial elements that you should pay attention to. Give your visitors the information they are looking for and give it fast.
According to studies, the ideal response time for a website is less than one second. This gives the user a prompt response. Given that your site has this level of responsiveness, you can support the feeling of direct manipulation where your visitors will be drawn to stay longer. If your website loads in less than three to five seconds, your users will notice a slight delay, yet it will still give them a sense of control regarding their user experience. Now, the limit for the user’s attention is ten seconds. If your websites take too much delay without any feedback, visitors will likely perform other tasks then leave your site eventually. The response time has continued to decrease in recent years. Nowadays, many users leave websites that won’t load in just a few seconds.
People leaving your site because of slow load time can lead to a low bounce rate. This is an important metric which you can view in Google analytics. If you have a low bounce rate, your website will likely underperform in the search engine result page.
Site speed is a ranking factor
A fast website helps you to rank better. Google has always said that faster websites perform better in SERPs, especially now that there is mobile indexing. This means Google will crawl and index the mobiles version of the site first before crawling and indexing the desktop version. So you have to ensure that your website performs well not only on desktops but also on mobiles. It has been observed that nowadays, people do everything on their mobile devices. Although there are still a large number of people who spend time in front of their desktops and laptops machines, we can’t deny that mobile still plays a significant role. So if you want to compete in the online market, you have to get a solid ranking for both your mobile and desktop version of your website.
Check how your website loads on desktop and mobile. See if it is responsive enough and how fast not only your homepage but also the other pages. If you can asses every page on your site, that would be better because it can affect the overall speed of your website.
Better conversion rate
Site speed plays an important role when it comes to conversions. If people are leaving your site because of the slow load time, it means they are not converting. This usually happens when your website has a long checkout process. Note that each page on your site needs to load fast for the conversion to be successful.
The goal is for your customer to buy your product or contact you. And for that to happen, they should have an excellent overall experience with your site. There is much a higher chance of converting visitors to customers if you actually manage to impress them with how quickly they can find what they are looking for.
Big sites like Amazon and eBay have evolved over the years. They have provided the best user experience possible for their customers. Your business regardless of how small or big it is, should do the same. Having a fast website not only will improve your conversion rates but your business as a whole. The more you provide a quick and easy to navigate the site, the higher you’ll lead your customers to conversion. This means the more money you will make in the long run.
Website speed is very important.
Today, the world is in a hurry; the same goes for the online world. Imagine this; you are somewhere when you suddenly remember that it’s your grandmother’s birthday. You take out your phone and search on Google for any last-minute gift. Granting that you have a poor internet connection, it means that each website will load slowly. In the end, you’ll eventually give up. This example is bad user experience, and Google does not want this. Search engines’ goal is to provide a quick, relevant and authoritative answer to their users so customers will have a better experience and will keep them coming back. Therefore, the speed of the website has a high impact on SEO.
While many marketers view site speed as an IT concern, it should be part of the marketing tactics. Actions such as improving graphic designs, developing contents in the right places, etc., should be part of your marketing priorities. Improving your site’s load time may be challenging but will have an essential impact on the overall performance of your website.
