Spring Cleaning For Websites: Relax, We’ll Do All The Work
Spring cleaning means clearing and tidying around the house. It is also a good time to de-clutter websites. Website speed is one of the most important features you offer both your customers and popular search engines. It should not be overlooked. Whether you realize it or not, a slow website increases the chance of customer abandonment. It can also lower your website’s position in search results.
How Can I Test My Website’s Speed?
There are a few user-friendly tools designed to test your website’s speed and provide immediate feedback to the tester. Web Design By Knight recommends customers test multiple sites to provide comparable results. Since Google is one of the main search engines that penalizes under-performing websites, testing at Google PageSpeed Insights can provide real-time information to users wishing to see how Google views their site’s page speed. Once analyzed, suggestions are made to help your website perform faster isAnother useful speed testing tool is Pingdom. Here users can connect to a test server and receive categorical breakdowns of their website’s performance. Some of these include viewing file sizes and load times, performance history over time, and the ability to test from multiple locations. This last feature is especially important and ensures local, regional, and international customers all receive the same, high-quality site experience as someone located in your town.
How Slow Is Slow?
While expectations can vary by individual users, most website visitors expect a page to load as quickly as possible. In fact, a study by the Aberdeen Group has found that just a one second delay can drastically affect a business owner’s bottom line. A slow website equals customer dissatisfaction. The reduced speed can also affect performance directly related to both the website’s and business’ financial health. Two of these most common areas are page views and conversions.
Because a customer may abandon a slow-loading website, the ability to have the visitor stay on that site and browse all aspects of it are lost. This results in a site that has potential to end in a conversion, but due to lack of performance, has lost that prospective customer. If coming from a paid search or email marketing campaign, this directly affects revenue spent on advertising and, if using Google AdWords, can result in a lower quality score, lower ad position, increased bid expenses for a prime position, and unfavorable conversion data.
The Eight Second Rule
Once you’ve tested your website’s speed, if it takes longer than eight seconds to load; chances are your business is not as profitable as it can be. At the eight second mark, approximately 33% of website visitors will abandon their wait, and move on to a competitor’s website. At ten seconds, it increases to an approximate 50% abandonment rate.
Finally, it is important to remember your customer. If trying to access your website on a slower-speed mobile connection, or in a location with less telecom infrastructure, your potential customer is already trying to connect with your website in less than optimal conditions. As a business owner, this lack of updated connectivity is not fixable on your end; however, having the fastest website possible greatly compensates for this obstacle.
Web Design By Knight Knows Speed
So you need your website to be more zippy? Let Web Design By Knight spring clean your site. Using the latest web tools and technologies, we are happy to perform a free evaluation testing your website’s speed. Some of the most common fixes include resizing images, combining files, and more. Prices begin at $150, and vary based on the complexity of your website.
Don’t delay and let another customer get away! Contact Web Design By Knight to get your free website “spring cleaning” analysis today.