Internet users are on the whole impatient people; they don’t want to be sitting around waiting for one webpage to load, especially when they are used to getting what they want, when they want it.  Do you know how fast your website loads?  Do you know how many customers quickly click off your site and onto your competitor’s because they are getting bored of waiting for webpages to load?  If not, it’s about time you found out.

Why is Website Loading Speed Important?

Whether you run an online company, an affiliate website or even a blog that contains advertisements, you are looking to make money or gain new customers.  Your website is the first thing that a potential customer sees and so it is important that your customer does not get bored before they even get there.  It is a known fact that slow loading websites have lower conversion rates than fast loading websites and so this alone should be reason enough to optimise your website’s speed.

If you’ve spent a lot of time on SEO strategies, keyword analysis or even on paid advertisements, the last thing you want to happen is a potential customer clicking off your site before they’ve even arrived.  Whilst every internet user has a different level of patience, most will not wait more than a few seconds before clicking onto your competitor’s site.

Google Pay Attention to Page Loading Speeds Too

In 2010 Google also announced plans (which they have since implemented) to take loading speed into account when they determine their search engine results.  Although loading speed is not given as much weight as things like site content, relevance and reputation, it can still determine where your site ultimately appears.  If you have been trying to rank for a competitive keyword for some time and cannot work out why your search engine position hasn’t improved – it may be down to your website loading speed.

Check Your Website Speed

There are numerous tools on the internet that will tell you how fast your webpage loads.  By using this data you can compare it to other sites that rank for your keywords and see whether your page is taking too long to load.  We offer a Website Speed Test Tool which can be used by clicking here.  All you need to do is input your web domain or IP address and we will do the rest for you.  Be sure to check your competitor’s sites at the same time.

Improving Your Website Speed

There are a number of ways to increase your website speed.  These include:

• Reconsidering your hosting provider – if you are using a shared host, it’s a good idea to upgrade to something more reliable.  The same goes with your host’s location: try and find a hosting provider that is located in the same area as your primary market.
• Remove redundant code
• Make sure your images are as compressed as possible
• Consider caching
• Reduce the number of 301 directs your webpage has
• Look into content delivery networks – especially if you have numerous large video and image files that can dramatically slow your page loading speeds down.