When it comes to developing a new website for your business, it's easy to get caught up in the aesthetics. Does the colour scheme work? Is the font right? Although it's definitely important to get your website looking just how you want it, you also need to consider other factors which can impact on the success of your new site, and one of the things you need to look at is the speed of your website. A slow website is not only frustrating for visitors, but can also impact on your SEO (search engine optimisation). Let's take a look at just how important website speed is for your visitors and sales.
Search engine rankings
Although Google are pretty tight lipped about the algorithm which gets your website to the
top of the search engine results, they have made it clear that website speed is one of the
considerations when it comes to website ranking. In addition to this, they also announced
that mobile page speed would also be thrown into the mix. So, what does this mean for
your business? Well, if you have a slow website then you could find that your efforts to
improve your search engine rankings are seriously impacted.
If you have a slow website, there are a few things that could be impacting on speed
including plugins, an overload of ads, large images, and code density. One of the most
crucial things to consider is your web hosting, so take your time in finding a service offering
quick load times. Don't forget that you also need to check how quick your website is on
mobile devices - if your website is only speedy on a desktop computer, you have some work
to do.
Visitor experience
While the SEO consequences of a slow website are important to consider, you also need to
remember that it can mean that your visitors have a less than satisfactory experience. With
the amount of online competition between various businesses, users are incredibly
impatient and will quickly leave your website to look elsewhere if your site is slow to load.
This can mean increased bounce rates and more shopping cart abandonments. In fact, users
have been shown to bounce off your page if it takes more than three seconds to load -
that's not long!
Even loyal customers will become frustrated with slow load times and you don't want them
looking for similar businesses in the digital marketplace. If you want to keep those
conversions happening and continually improving traffic to your website, always factor in
the speed of your website.
Where to next?
At Adaptive Digital, we understand the importance of delivering an aesthetically appealing
website which conveys the personality of your business, while also ensuring maximum
functionality for your visitors. Our team has extensive digital experience and offer end-to-
end marketing solutions for your business. Let us show you what we can do!
For complete website solutions, speak with Adaptive Digital today.