The next time the ratio of conversions on your site gives you a shock (we are talking about a decrease in conversion ratio), take a look at the loading time of your website. If it’s taking ages to load, you have identified your problem or at least a large chunk of it for sure.
‘Page load time’ has been a topic of hot discussion since the time SEO experts, internet marketers and website developers realized its importance, with respect to conversions. It’s been written on a lot, and the value of a quick page load time cannot be emphasized enough. But, webmasters continue to ignore it time and time again.
So, here’s a wake-up call for all those who think the loading time of their website has little or no relevance for a successful innings on the World Wide Web.
Prevent your site from getting abandoned
Research indicates that web users appreciate a site that loads quickly. The expectations vary, but the general consensus is that a site that loads within as little as 3 seconds is the kind of site most users will visit. If it takes time, users will just abandon it and go onto some other site. It’s important to remember that web users are an impatient lot. They are looking for instant gratification. Your website shouldn’t and can’t impose on their time. If it does, say good bye to conversions.
So, from a visitor’s perspective it makes sense that the pages of your website load quickly. This markedly improves the chances of the visitor going through the site, which in turn can improve conversions.
Life from Google’s Perspective
We told you that the users expect a site that loads quickly; but what’s more important is that even Google likes sites that don’t take an eternity to load. But, don’t panic. Google does factor in the site speed while ranking pages, but it’s one of the numerous factors that this search engine considers while ranking a website. Think about it this way. Optimizing the page load time is one of the many ways you are trying to get your website ranked higher in the search engine rankings. This in turn will have an immense bearing on the conversion rate.
It’s always a good idea to look at the bigger picture.
So what can you do about it?
Does your site load time really need a boost? Confused? Well, the best thing to do in this case is check the speed of your page. There are plenty of online tools and resources that offer this service. One of the better ways of doing this is through the Google Tool. But the choice is yours. Choose what you think suits your requirements best. Another important factor that you need to consider is your target audience. If your target audience has a slow internet connection, they are fast going to lose patience with your site if it takes forever to load. So, configure your site accordingly.
There are plenty of ways that can be used to improve the loading speed of your web pages. Some of these include:
- Image Optimization: Reducing image size helps your site load faster.
- Using external files for your Scripts and Sheets: This helps avoid cramping up your web page and the browser loads one file at a time. This improves loading speed.
- Don’t resize images with HTML – Avoid image resizing by creating a smaller version using HTML. The problem is that the browser still uploads the whole image and then resizes it. This will actually increase load time.
These are plenty of other options available that will help speed up the loading of your web page.
The importance, in a nutshell
When you are on the Web, you need to make each second count. This fact assumes paramount importance when your website is selling products and services. A site that loads quickly has an effect on the shopping behavior of the visitors. A visitor that waits for a long time for the site to load is one irritated visitor. Chances are that he won’t buy from your website. On the other hand, a site that loads quickly, improves the mindset of a visitor, which improves your chances of making a sale.
This is why speed is of the essence. If your website doesn’t load quickly as compared to your competitors, it’s definitely not good news for your business.
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Web Design
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Web Development