What is Site Speed?

Website speed or website performance refers to how quickly a browser is able to load web pages from a given website. Essentially, how quickly can web pages download from a hosting server and display onto the web browser. In order to find out what your page speed is, use Page Speed Insights.

Why is improving your page speed important?

The amount of time it takes for your website to load could be the difference between generating a lead or losing one. According to BBC, 50% of people won’t wait for a website to load if it takes more than 3 seconds. That means you’re losing about 50% of visitors who could have made a purchase on your eCommerce website.

In addition, your page speed performance directly affects your SEO rankings. Google accounts for several factors when ranking your website, including bounce rate, the amount of time a visitor spends on your page, the number of visitors who make a conversion on your website, page speed, and more. So how fast should your website load in order to rank high in the eyes of Google? SEM Rush provides a glimpse into the web’s averages:

If your website loads in 5 seconds, it’s faster than ~25% of the web
If your website loads in 2.9 seconds, it’s faster than ~50% of the web
If you website loads in 1.7 seconds, it’s faster than ~75% of the web
If you website loads in 0.8 seconds, it’s faster than ~94% of the web

How to Improve your Site Speed

There are a number of things you can do to improve your website’s performance:

Reduce Redirects
Combine and Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Files
Enable Browser Caching
Improve Server Response Time
Use a Content Distribution Network (CDN)
CDN’s are network servers that are used to distribute the load of delivering content
Optimize your Images
Ensure your images are in the correct file format: PNGs are best for graphics while JPEGs are better for photographs

Need help improving your eCommerce website speed? Contact Bytes.co for help. By migrating websites onto our servers and optimizing hundreds of websites improve their site speed and performance.

Don’t wait until December! Contact us today so your eCommerce website is ready for the holiday rush!

More Things to Think About. . .

With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s crucial that your eCommerce website is prepared for the sudden surge in sales. To help, we’ve put together a list of the twelve most important things for eCommerce websites to have in order to smoothly navigate this exciting and chaotic time of year.

Holiday eCommerce Tip #1 – Improve Site Speed