Every second counts - why website speed matters

Did you know the first five seconds of page-load time have the highest impact on conversion rate?

Not only that, a one-second delay in page load time yields:

• 11% fewer page views
• 16% decrease in customer satisfaction
• 7% loss in conversions

Website speed plays a decisive role in how your audience perceives your brand. It is a human tendency to consider a faster website more reliable and professional. And a slow website is mostly annoying for users. Most users bounce immediately and prefer visiting other, faster websites to meet their requirements.

40% of people abandon a site entirely if it takes more than three seconds to load, that's nearly half your online audience base.

To deliver a brilliant user experience for first-time visitors, your website should load fast every time it is opened. This will create a more positive experience for users on your website. 

What is a good page load time?

Before you can start, you need to have a goal in mind for where you want to be. That can be not easy if you aren't sure what an acceptable page speed is. According to Google, the best practice is three seconds. Unfortunately, according to its recent benchmark report findings, most sites are nowhere near that.

Speed affects your conversion rates

Did you know Google penalises websites with low page load speed? 

If your website takes too long to load, this could lose customers and revenue. A fast loading website delivers a good user experience and helps create a lasting positive impression among customers. By optimising page load speed, you can increase your conversion rates and boost your retention of new visitors. 

Video, animation and design 

When it comes to site speed, your design, video, images and animation could be having a profound impact. In a recent survey by Unbounce, half of the people surveyed said they'd be willing to give up animation and video for fast loading times.

Here are some tried and tested tips on how you can improve your website speed 

1. Run a speed test - use Google PageSpeed Insights
2. Get fast and reliable web hosting - choosing the right supplier is so important 
3. Optimise and compress all your images on your website - images that are too large affect load time 
4. Lazy loading - this tool can be used to make the entire site load faster 
5. Control redirects on your site - the more redirects you have, the more it can impact the load speed 
6.  Optimise your homepage - sometimes less is more - remove unnecessary images, banners and flash video content 

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