Is your website’s speed too slow that it could potentially increase your bounce rate? Your website’s user experience is one of the most crucial aspects of online marketing. Having a slow website could affect their overall user experience because it takes them a while to get what they need from it. According to a survey, 47% of consumers expect the webpage to load in 2 seconds or less. However, most individuals would wait for 6-10 seconds before they abandon a page.
So if your website speed continues at a snail’s pace, you can expect more and more users to search for another website to get the information they need or to acquire their services. With this, it would potentially affect your bounce rate and ultimately your website will plummet down the rankings.
So why is your website speed isn’t fast enough?
There are a ton of factors that may have contributed to your website’s slow speeds. In this article, we educate you on the different reasons why your website’s loading slow and provide you with effective solutions for it, so you can improve its speed:
- JavaScript Problems
Using JavaScript plugins make your website more interactive and dynamic for users. If you don’t have it, you might end up making your website boring and outdated. But if you don’t optimize your JavaScript, it could decrease your load speed, affecting your UX.
When a user clicks on a webpage that utilizes a JavaScript on their website, the webpage has to stop and fully load any JavaScript files before it fully displays itself on-screen. This results in “render-blocking JavaScript.”
So how can you resolve this issue?
- Option 1: Perhaps your website is just bloating with plugins. Run an audit on your JavaScripts to see what you need and what you may not need.
- Option 2: Remove your external JavaScript files, and make use of inline JavaScript instead.
- Option 3: Let your JavaScript load separately from the rest of the page using asynchronous loading.
- Large Media Files
When you use high-resolution images and videos to add more imagery to your website, it could be what’s behind your slow website. Using high-resolution images and videos could take a toll on your bandwidth, causing its slowness. There are different solutions for both images and videos, on how you can use them without compromising your website speed.
- Images – Optimize your photo by compressing their size and change their format from either GIF or PNG to JPEG
- Videos – It’s better if you host them externally on streaming platforms, then embed your videos on your website.
- No or Inadequate Caching Techniques
First of all, you might be wondering, “what is caching?” You might have seen it a lot in your phones and your laptops that take up way too much space on your device, so your device will ask if you want to delete it. Well, caching is when browsers save static copies of your website’s files. Then, when users visit your site, their browsers can display the cached data instead of waiting for the website to reload again.
So how can you implement caching techniques to your advantage?
- Use browser/HTTP caching and server-side caching to improve your website and performance. If there are elements of your website you can cache, do it. However, be careful that you do not compromise its overall functionality.
- Too Many HTTP Requests
When you have a bunch of JavaScript, CSS, and image files, it could lead to a lot of HTTP requests. Therefore, if someone visits your website, the browser performs many requests to load each of the files. Hence, it could result in reducing your website speed.
So how can you remedy this problem?
- You can use CSS Sprites to reduce your HTTP requests. At the same time, you have to limit the number of files that need to be loaded on your pages by minifying your CSS and JavaScript files.
- Too Many Ads
Although having ads on your website can help you gain revenue with heavy traffic, the downside of it is that it can slow down your web pages. When you have more ads, it could increase your HTTP requests. Hence, it could affect your load speeds. Rich media ads, like pop-ups, auto-downloads, and interstitials, can definitely compromise your webpage speeds as it can clog up a website.
Solution?
- Only advertise what’s necessary and where it’s necessary.
- Slow Web Hosting
Often, websites may be slow to load because of their server. When the user clicks on your website, the browser is asking for all the information and data needed to display the website. However, if there is a problem with the server or if the server does not perform well, then it will take a lot longer to respond. This will result in a poor UX.
Even if you’ve checked out all the issues previously mentioned, if you don’t have a good web host, then it will affect your website speed.
So how do you find the right web hosts for you?
- Nowadays, it’s easier to decipher what’s a good or bad service provider by going through reviews. Find web hosts with good reviews from current users, so you don’t have to go through the trial and error process to find the right one for your website.
- Not Using CDN Services
Although it’s not really required, it can be a great help in improving your website speed. A Content Delivery Network, or CDN, comprises several servers that are placed in different geographic locations and serve as web content to visitors with high availability and performance.
Depending on the user’s location, the requested content will be presented by the node found at the nearest available data center. It would lessen the round-trip-time, or RTT, and provide the content quicker.
These could be some of the problems your website has and could be the reason why it’s not quick enough to serve your customer. Should you have trouble resolving these issues yourself, perhaps you can find website development professionals who can help get the job done right for you.
Binary Ideas Can Amp Up the Speed of Your Website in No Time!
Our professionals at Binary Ideas are well-equipped with the knowledge in improving your website’s performance. Whether it’s optimizing your images and videos, getting rid of useless plugins and finding ones that would benefit your website, or using effective techniques to boosting your website speed, you can guarantee that our team is capable of fixing any issues with load speeds and making certain that it does not hamper your potential client’s user experience.
If you want to know more about the services we provide, feel free to contact us today!
