For a webmaster, the speed of a website is extremely important. It affects every aspect of your website, from the user experience to your conversion rates. Every second counts too, so this is something that everyone should be constantly aware of when tracking their website’s performance.
So what affects your speed? Today we’ll look at four major factors, followed by an infographic to help you better understand the way your website’s speed is affected and how that speed affects your performance across the board.
Factors That Affect Your Website’s Speed
In today’s world, 47% of eCommerce customers expect a website to load in less than 2 seconds before they consider leaving. At the end of the day, even a fraction of a second can change the entire outcome of your efforts.
While creating a website, consider these important factors that will affect your page speed:
1. Your Hosting Provider
Sometimes the very foundation of your website can be to blame for slow speed. Make sure you choose a host with plenty of resources on offer to ensure your website isn’t bogged down by slow servers.
2. Your Images
Many webmasters will forget to optimize their images and this space will start to add up over time. Remember to compress images to speed up the loading times and decrease the space they take up on your site.
3. Plugins
Believe it or not, plugins can slow down your site if you have too many, or if the ones you have are poorly coded. Make sure your research the plugins you’re installing and never have more than one of any kind installed.
4. No Caching Plugin
Speaking of plugins, you should have a caching plugin to help lower the time needed to load a page. Consider WP Total Cache which is a great option.
Now we’ll take a look at an awesome infographic that will help you understand the importance of website speed in regards to your conversion optimization and how to kick your site into overdrive! Let us know how it helps you in the comments!
