Business transactions today literally happen at the speed of light. With just a few taps on their smartphones, consumers can book a doctor’s appointment, check cinema schedules, or buy something from their favorite store. The internet has become the new marketplace, and businesses need to invest in an online presence to remain competitive. However, you risk falling behind if your website takes too long to load.
Google revealed that mobile websites take as much as 22 seconds to load, about double the average speed for desktop sites. Consumers won’t wait forever, and your traffic can drop by half if your website too slow. Your sales will drop, and you might even lose your SERP rank if you don’t rectify the problem as soon as possible.
It’s easy to blame consumers for their predicament. After all, their internet connection might be to blame. But you also need to take a look at your own website. One reason why it loads slowly is it’s not properly optimized or is filled with large assets. An SEO consultant will help you sort things out, but there are a few things you can do yourself. Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. Check your HTTP requests
It pays to learn basic computing concepts so that you can better understand some of the issues you may face. For instance, one of the reasons why websites slow down is if it receives too many HTTP requests.
Whenever someone logs on your site, their browser has to send a request to the server so the website will load. If the server is inundated with too many requests, the entire system could fail. Make sure your infrastructure can deal with your traffic, especially during peak times.
2. Watch what you upload
Every image and video on your site takes up space, and if you overload your website with assets, your load speed will be drastically affected. You need to keep a close eye on the number of assets you upload to your website, as well as the file size of the images. The lighter the assets, the faster they will load.
It doesn’t make sense to upload full-size images when a smaller one works just as well. A 5-megabyte image requires ten times more data than a 500-kilobyte one. Make sure to resize images and compress videos before placing them on a page. You could shave load time in half if you resize every existing asset. Just make sure the images aren’t too small since some devices have high-definition displays.
3. Invest in a better host
Not all businesses have dedicated servers for their website, and if you’re starting, a third-party host might make more sense. Not only is it more cost-effective, but you also don’t need to hire a team to maintain hardware. Just make sure that you have enough bandwidth for your website. If your hosting plan isn’t enough to sustain operations, your website will go down for long stretches of time.
Web hosting is one area you do not want to skimp on. Many business owners target the IT department when they need to economize, but weakening your online presence will only hamper your growth, especially when most transactions occur today occur online. Talk to your team and make sure they receive enough funds to keep your website running round-the-clock.
A final word
These three tips will help you speed up your website and make sure that your customers can access what they need whenever they want. Improving your website’s performance requires many things working together, from reducing asset sizes to investing in better hardware. If you add up all the changes you’ve made, you’re going to see better performance from now on.