Source: Software engineer photo created by pressfoto
Websites or web apps that load slowly are at a disadvantage. Not only do they frustrate users and cause them to bounce, but in the case of websites, they also lose ranking in search engine results. This article will discuss the broader scope of why speed matters.
Page rankings
Google has always been focused on delivering the best user experience possible. To ensure that users are finding the most relevant websites and pages, Google has incorporated website speed as a ranking factor.
In fact, over the last two years, Google has released a few major algorithm updates focused on “user experience”. They’re always a little mysterious in revealing the exact measurements contributing to their ranking algorithm, but they were pretty clear this time. Get your website passing the Core Web Vitals if you want better search page results.
The result of these changes is that websites that load slowly will not rank as high as those that are faster. This is because Google wants to ensure that users find what they are looking for as quickly as possible. We won’t dive into Google’s own reasons for that (revenue through ads).
The point relies on search engine traffic from Google, like pretty much every site on the internet, then having a quick website will help you drive up the search engine results.
User experience
Poorly optimized websites or web apps leave users waiting around while things happen. Users don’t like this and they won’t stand for it anymore. It’s not 1990. They want the page to load now.
Simply put, if your website or web app loads slowly, it creates a poor user experience, leading to a host of unsavory metrics like increased bounce rate, user churn, poor engagement times, etc.
Suppose your website or app has any kind of financial incentive wrapped around it, like engagement with ads, selling products, or landing new leads. In that case, a poor user experience will handicap your efforts.
On the other hand, if your website or app is nicely optimized, then you’ll give users less chance to lose attention, improving their overall experience and buying yourself the greatest chance to get them to convert.
Brand perception
A slow website can impact users’ perception of your brand. Consumers are generally unforgiving. They won’t draw a line between how your company does business and your website or application load speeds.
Thinking about this from a user’s perspective, if you won’t spend the resources to get your website or application built by experts who will make it run fast, then why should they trust you to do anything else?
To avoid this perception issue altogether, make sure to take the necessary steps to ensure that your website or web app is loading as quickly as possible for users. They’ll likely have a better opinion of your brand because of it.
Competitive advantage
Having a website or application that runs fast is a competitive advantage. Yes, it brings the benefits we’ve mentioned above, like increased rankings in the search result, a better user experience, and a great chance of persuading a user to do business with you. But as important is how it helps you compete with other businesses in your space.
If your website or app runs in a saturated market, then users will be looking for reasons to do business with your competitors. Simply having a fast website could be enough to keep paying customers around or to convince them to jump ship from a competitor.
It’s a minor advantage, we’ll admit, but if you’re in eCommerce or run a SaaS platform that has close competitors, then delighting users with blazing fast load times can help you land more business.
Direct impact on conversion rate
Our last argument for making your website or application faster is a little anecdotal. Huge platforms like Amazon and eBay have invested considerably in their performance optimisation for a reason. Customers buy more if they don’t have to wait around.
There’s a base level of friction we all experience in the buying process. Browsing through countless options, double guessing your purchase, having to enter your card details, and confirming the purchase are all big friction points.
Forcing users to wait around at each step gives them the opportunity to wander off and open another tab, never to return. There’s a direct correlation between how quickly page loads and the bounce rate of visitors.
If your website sells any kind of product and it’s poorly optimized, then you’re literally leaving money on the table.
How do I fix my website or app’s performance?
Unfortunately, there’s no universal answer to this question. Websites can suffer from a range of problems; poor quality hosting, too many plugins, and poorly optimized themes, just to name a few. Similarly, web applications can be running poorly optimized processes under the hood, loading too much data, suffering from memory leaks, or countless other problems.
If you’re not an experienced or skilled developer, then it’s an impossible challenge to figure out the problem. A better approach is speaking with a small team of experts like Clean Commit that can get your website or app’s performance up to its blazing best.
Won’t that be expensive, you ask? Well, it can be. We won’t sugarcoat it. Sometimes these issues are difficult to track down and fix. But as long as the partner you choose to work with is transparent on pricing and gets the job done, then you can get back to growing your bottom line with your website or app.
Author’s Bio: Lori Wade is a writer who is interested in a wide range of spheres from eCommerce to web development and new technologies. If you are interested in the above topics, you can find her on LinkedIn. Read and take over Lori’s useful insights!