There are so many aspects of building and maintaining a website, but where is website speed on your list of things? For some, it’s top of the list, while others have it down further their list.
In our opinion at CODEGRAPE, website speed is one of the most important elements of any website, and we let our experts explain why below:
First, and most important: User Experience
“The first reason of importance when discussing the speed of a website is the simple fact that users will react better to a fast website and won’t become impatient as it waits for loading times. We are a very impatient society, and we’ll only stick around for a moment or two before we decide to go somewhere else. Your website must be fast, or else your audience could lose patience.
The second, and less obvious reason why website speed is important is because a faster website usually operates more flawlessly as well. Oftentimes, when one signal speaks with another, and one of those is delayed, it can cause issues. With a fast website where every facet is operating at a nice speed, it means that things are synced perfectly and are communicating effectively with each other.”
Tip submitted by Peter Peterka.
Secondly: Conversion rates?
“A slow website could affect your ability to convert on a lead and make a sale. As an e-commerce store, we know that every single thing contributes to the action of making a sale. From the text we use and the sales process, to how we market our company – it all plays a part. Website speed definitely plays a part in our ability to make a sale and a slower website will have a worse conversion rate. If the website is getting slower, then I bet conversion rates will decrease along with the speed of the website.”
Tip submitted by Josh Bluman of JJ Suspenders.
Third: Speed Affects SEO
“Believe it or not, a website’s speed affects how they rank on Google. Google takes just about everything into consideration when they present their search results, and website speed is definitely one of the elements of their criteria. More broadly, Google assesses a website’s performance, and obviously, speed is an important aspect of that.
As we know, SEO is a complicated and diverse thing. There are a lot of factors that contribute to a boost, or a decrease, in SEO rating. Many people will focus on link-building and the creation of content, but completely forget about assessing the speed of their website, meaning they could be hurt by a slow website.”
Tip submitted by Michael Collins of Sphere IT.
Fourth: Playback of Videos
“When I visit to a website and want to view the videos they have on their website, but things are taking too long to load, I more than likely leave before things eventually load. Our society is quick to become inpatient and I’m not waiting around for a video to load just so I could watch it. If your website is slow and it affects the playback of videos, this is a red flag for me (and most people).”
Tip submitted by Lee Hemming of ABC Finance Limited.
Lastly: Website Speed Avoids Confusion
“The last thing you want when someone visits your website is confusion. The best websites are as straightforward as possible and website speed contributes to this. A slow website could lead to confusion from people who are new to your website and just figuring out what you’re all about. If the website loads slowly, users might only get half of the information and even have images and videos missing from pages. It just adds a level of confusion, which is not good.”
Tip submitted by Aaron Winston of Express Legal Funding.
