The last part of this article series will cover a crucial piece for any website. For expediency this article will be a faster read. The time it takes for your website to load can be a determining factor if it was built professionally or not.
With faster internet speeds and faster electronics people don’t want to wait around for a website to load. Considering the lengths people used to have to go to in order to do the same things you can now do online, you may think that waiting a few seconds is reasonable. The fact of the matter is, if your website takes longer than 2 seconds to load the majority of visitors will leave.
According to one survey by Unbounce, nearly 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. While this survey focused on e-commerce websites the principal applies to all websites. It can be annoying and also scary to think that you have less than 2 seconds to grab people’s attention.
What Affects Website Speed?
Just about everything about your website can affect your website’s speed. To go into detail about all of them would make this article miles long. So I’ll mention a few of the major factors.
- The amount of images and videos that are on individual web pages
- The file sizes of the images and videos
- If your web pages have any sort of animation.
These are but a few of the less technical factors, but they can make a big impact.
On a more technical side, some other factors include, where your website is hosted, the size of your database, if your website is static or dynamic, if you’re using any sort of caching & how it’s setup, the version of PHP, how your website is coded, if it’s built using a content management system and if so which one, if any of your code files are minified and many more.
To get an idea of the speed of your website there are various free online tools you can use to test the speed, such as GTMetrix or Experte Page Speed Test.
This is why it’s important to have a professional website built. Because of all the factors that go into just speeding up a website, you want to make sure your website is built the correct way. Fortunately, there is not just one correct way to build a fast website, but there are also many ways to slow it down.
While some website builders are made in a way so users don’t have to worry about the complexities that go into website speed, the tools they offer are often limited in number and customization control. Thus, if a user wants to build a more complex website, they either need to pay more or they simply can’t because those features aren’t offered with the service.
In a previous article, I mention 4 benefits of hiring a web developer over using a DIY website builder. In addition to the 4 benefits mentioned in that article, a good developer will be able to build your website with page speed in mind, whereas using a DIY website builder comes with many limitations when it comes to helpful settings and features that you can customize to improve website speed.
Final Thoughts
To end this article series, I want to share a few links to free resources I use to ensure the websites I build are not only fast but professional. Try them out for yourself and see how your website compares. If you find that your website doesn’t live up to your expectations, it may be time to “renovate” your website.
You don’t need to look far for reliable and professional web services. Feel free to contact us and schedule a free consultation call to discuss your project in further detail.
Free Resources & Tools
View how many popular websites have changed over the years.
https://web.archive.org
Great online tool to check for any broken links on your website.
https://www.brokenlinkcheck.com
Free tools to check your website’s speed.
https://gtmetrix.com
