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April 07, 2022

Why is Website Loading Speed Important?

Why Is Website Loading Speed Important

Every company nowadays has a website – and if you have a firm or a brand, chances are you do, too. While design, theme, user interface, and relevant content of your site are all key parts that make or break a site, website speed is something that many people ignore.

It’s critical to recognize that today’s buyer/customer/target audience is constantly online. That means that they’ll use their desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone to access information on the Internet. In addition, this digital client is one more thing – impatient – meaning they expect speed, which is why the importance of excellent page load time is essential.

Having a website that loads quickly will pay off in many different ways. Website speed is important for both – desktop and mobile devices.

Want to learn more about website loading speed and why it’s so important? Check out this in-depth guide for our team’s detailed take on the matter!

So, why exactly is website loading speed such a big deal? Join us as we discuss why speed matters in this guide!

What Is A Website’s Speed?

slow website load time

The term “web page performance” or “website speed” refers to how quickly a certain browser such as Chrome, Firefox, and others can load fully functional web pages from a particular site. Based on today’s standards, you definitely don’t want to have a slow website speed.

Slow website performance or website speed would cause a decrease in the total site traffic, search engine rankings, and lead to bad user experiences.

A poorly performing webpage that takes longer to load in browsers can turn visitors away. And on the flip side, sites that load quickly often receive more traffic and have higher conversions.

The Importance of Website Load Speed

website speed affects user experience

You can’t afford to ignore the importance of website load page speed as your customers’ online behavior evolves.

Here’s why load speed is still more of a big deal than you might imagine.

Users Expect Fast Websites

The Internet is an ever-changing place.

Over the last decade or so, people have used the web more and more as a part of their daily lives. And in times when everything is one click away, it’s not unusual for people to perform hundreds of web searches each day.

The web is such an essential part of our lives that we’ve come to expect it to be fast and reliable.

Learn more on how to improve the user experience on your website here.

When users visit your website, and it takes a long time to load, they are likely to believe there is an issue with your site or their browser. And before you know it, they’ll close the site and move on to something new.

If your site takes too long to load, a potential customer may leave your page and head to a competitor. Your slow web page speed will have directly cost you a sale in this instance.

When it comes to page speed on the Internet, the bar is set high. People expect and want fast loading times, and they will rarely settle for less.

When thinking about web page speed, take yourself as an example:

Consider how you use the Internet. You’re seeking immediate responses and outcomes. Whether you’re using a laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone, you definitely want fast results.

Visitors are willing to wait a bit for well-known and authoritative websites. Visitors will endure a tiny delay if you’re Google or Facebook because you’re a well-known brand.

Sadly, most of us aren’t social media giants but rather small enterprises and startups – and those do not always have the same luxury.

It’s best to get going as quickly as possible right away.

Conversions

The conversion rate of your site is affected by slow websites, too.

A visitor may visit fewer pages if your site is really slow. That implies they’ll be able to look through fewer product categories, for example.

That reduces your sales since customers may not be able to locate what they want if they can’t see what you have to offer promptly.

A website slow loading speed may also cause visitors to reconsider returning at a later time. But if the visitor has a negative experience with the web pages, they are much less likely to return to it in the future.

It’s far more probable that they’ll go to a competitor’s site the following time – and you’ll lose a customer for good.

If you get in touch with Eggs Media – an award-winning web design company from Toronto – you’ll find out how to improve your online presence.

website loading speed importance

Bounce Rate

The bounce rate is the proportion of visitors to a website who leave after just reading one page. If the page they were trying to visit takes a while to load, users will close the window or abandon the website – and that affects your performance indicators, including the so-called bounce rate.

Images, Videos, And Files

File format and image size can greatly impact page load time, as well.

The more files you have on a page, and the larger they are, the chances are that they’ll turn into performance bottlenecks. Try your best to optimize images and files to improve your webpage load time.

Code, Data & Servers

server response time

Make sure to optimize your code – and more specifically, minify CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. It’s another factor that affects load time.

All of your site’s textual and encrypted data (like posts, comments, and pages) is kept in one database if you’re using a CMS like WordPress. With time, this database may become clogged with information that you don’t need, such as spam comments, trashed posts, post drafts, etc.

Eliminate this data to improve site speed.

Furthermore, use a CDN:

A CDN – or a content delivery network – is a globally distributed network of servers that collaborate to provide your information quickly. That way, you don’t have to rely on a single server to reach users all over the world.

Instead of leaving one server to handle all of the site’s traffic, CDNs help improve load time by dividing bandwidth over numerous servers.

Impact On Social Ads

When it comes to paid ads, Facebook promotes greater site speed – just like paid ads on Google. And Facebook, like Google, aims to offer the most relevant results for your search.

In 2017, Facebook made an algorithmic update that prioritized user experience, including site performance.

As previously stated, the faster a website loads, the better the user experience and the overall performance will be. Facebook declared that depending on the performance of the site and the user experience, your adverts will be prioritized – or not.

More Browsing Is Happening On Mobile

browsing on smartphone

Mobile site speed is important. More than 60% of all web browsing is now done on mobile devices. The fact that more searches are conducted on mobile devices only exacerbates website loading speed issues.

Browsing the Internet on a smartphone or a tablet (rather than a desktop PC) can reduce Internet connection speed for many people. It could also suggest that people are looking on the go during their lunch breaks at work or while waiting in line.

A slow site is significantly less likely to be tolerated in any circumstance. When you’re at home or work, you might wait a minute for a website to load – but when you’re on your phone, you will probably just have to wait a few seconds.

That means that a site that loads fast is particularly appealing to mobile users.

Always remember that in a world where everything is one click away, no one has the patience to wait for pages to load!

First Impression Is Vital

On the web, first impressions are absolutely vital. As a matter of fact, your clients, readers, and visitors form an immediate opinion of you – and your company – based on your site and website load time.

If your pages load quickly, you’ve created an excellent first impression. That’s a no-brainer in terms of user experience:

Fast Loading website make new visitors overjoyed right away.

It’s basic psychology, really – people consider websites that load quickly to be professional and trustworthy. Therefore,they associate efficiency, trust, and confidence with page load speed.

On the other hand, if particular websites are slow, visitors tend to think they are unsafe and untrustworthy. 

As you probably know, it’s difficult to recover from a poor first impression. When it comes to online user experience, there are seldom – if ever – second chances. Users are not big on giving second chances to sites that load slowly, so having an optimized site with high performance in terms of webpage speed is vital.

Whatever business you’re in, the chances are that the competition is tough. So, don’t test your visitors’ patience with poor performance.

User Experience 

UX page design

User experience and UX design are some of the few ways in which websites can distinguish themselves from their competitors. That, of course, means that your business will stand out, too.

Good UX design is generally about giving your visitors a terrific – and straightforward – experience at its most basic level.

A great user experience is based on two essential factors:

  1. Make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.
  2. Give it to them right away.

That’s why, when it comes to user experience, page load times are your top priority.

If your visitor gets confused or frustrated, you’re not doing it right. Nothing irritates Internet users more than slow site speed!

Long-Term Damage

We’ve determined that a slow page load time causes visitors to leave right away, meaning that nearly half of prospective clients have already left. There’s a significant long-term effect as well.

Your natural growth, organic traffic, and word-of-mouth will be stifled due to the excessive loading time.

Due to a negative experience, customers progressively stop recommending your service to others, links to your content are less likely to appear on well-known websites, and it could even prevent people from signing up for your newsletter.

Not to mention that a slow website speed is sometimes associated with a lack of credibility, which can harm your brand long-term.

All this means you rarely get a second chance when it comes to site speed.

Speed matters so much that you can feel its impact in the long run. So, don’t focus so much on a quick win and, instead, see how you can improve your site’s performance in terms of page speed.

Site Speed & SEO Success

Here’s another example of the importance of website speed:

Google started taking website speed into account when ranking sites. This change occurred in July 2018 and is part of the growing trend by Google to highlight websites that load quickly.

According to Google, the recent “Speed Update” to its search engine was introduced as a way to “Encourage developers to consider a range of user experience metrics and to think broadly about how performance affects a user’s experience of their page.”

In plain language, it means that slow sites could have trouble ranking highly. 

If you don’t want to risk a poor Google ranking and customers giving up on your site, it’s crucial to work with a web developer who can improve the speed of your website. Contact us today to find out how we can help.

Conclusion

page speed as a ranking signal

Website performance plays a huge role in your overall growth. Speed affects the direction in which your brand or business will go, including ranking on search engines, conversions, and so on.

Website load times are now more critical than ever – which is why you should invest more resources and optimize your pages for better website load speed. It will have a significant impact on conversion rates and bounce rates, and make a solid first impression, too.

Optimized sites that have fast load speed can be a make or break for your business. So, think about how you can improve page load time and have a fast website today!

Contact us to learn more about the importance of site speed – and how you can improve it!

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