Why Website Speed is Vital for Your Website
No one likes to wait. Take the most patient person, put them in a line at the DMV, and you’ll see them grow anxious as the minutes tick by.
Attention spans were never great to begin with. But in today’s hyper-paced digital world, our ability to focus has shrunk to literal milliseconds.
Add to that a multitude of choices and options when it comes to websites, social media channels, etc. A slow-loading website is a kiss of death for your viewers, web presence, search engine rankings, and even conversion rates.
Whatever type of website you run – a marketing website, business blog, e-commerce shop, portfolio, etc – the speed at which your pages load matters.
TL;DR – Make sure your WordPress Website’s pages load fast
But if you still need further proof, keep reading, and we’ll break down all the ways site speed is essential for your website.
First Impressions
When new visitors land on your homepage, they form an opinion about your website and, by extension, your company within seconds. Think of your website as a traditional storefront for your business. Suppose a customer arrives and finds broken windows, doors that won’t open, and general disrepair. In that case, they will probably look to visit another company. But unlike with a brick-and-mortar shop, visiting a competitor is a simple search and click.
Google conducted studies and found that if page load times go from one to ten seconds, the chances of someone bouncing off your page increase by 123%! Too slow to load, and customers will leave and often never return.
SEO Considerations
Google values quality results and user experience. Every algorithm update they introduce centers around separating good sites from bad ones. Who can blame them? Just like customers judge our websites, people will judge search engines if they’re constantly serving up spammy sites irrelevant to your interests.
Starting back in 2010, Google added speed as a ranking factor. It’s only gained importance since that time with the prevalence of mobile devices.
Mobile Search Performance
The majority of search is on mobile. And if you thought desktop users were impatient, Google’s study found that an increase in page load times from one to five seconds resulted in a 90% probability of bouncing.
In 2016, Google shifted to mobile-first indexing, prioritizing mobile site speed and performance. If your WordPress website is sluggish on mobile devices, it will negatively impact your search rankings and visibility on search engine results pages.
Conversion Rates
Your WordPress website is built for a purpose – to convert visitors in some way. That could be a purchase or a signup. All the work you put in to develop your funnel, make great CTA’s, etc., goes out the window when your website speed is too slow.
A 1-second page load time sees a conversion rate of nearly 40%. 2 seconds, and your chance drops to 34%. By 6 seconds, you’re down to an 18% chance. People get distracted and lose their momentum when faced with a slow website.
What Can You Do?
Thankfully, you can improve your website’s speed in numerous ways that don’t require a ton of money or effort.
Things you should try:
- Optimize your images
- Delete unused plugins (something we recommend a lot)
- Check with your hosting provider
- Optimize your site for mobile
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
- Consolidate your ads
Wrapping Up
A fast-loading website isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s a must-have. Slow-loading websites can impact virtually all aspects of your business, and that’s doubly true if you’re an online-only brand. Your site’s speed affects everything from how customers view your business to your online performance and even your conversion rates.
We have years of experience optimizing WordPress websites and have a network of trusted WordPress hosting providers whom we partner with to can ensure your website performs at its best.
If you feel like your website isn’t performing as well as it could be or has become sluggish, reach out to us today!
