Let’s Talk Page Load Speed – Because Every Second Counts

Page load speed might not be the flashiest part of your website, but it definitely still needs your attention! Page load speed refers to the time it takes for your page to fully load in a browser after someone clicks on a link or types in your URL. 

We recently spoke at an interactive website design workshop, where we gave advice on improving the look of your website. People still had questions on the functionality behind the design, especially when they were asked questions like ‘do you know how long your website takes to load?’.

So it turns out functionality is just as important as making a website look pretty. 

So why does it matter? 

First impressions happen fast! You’re not given a second chance to make a first impression with a new customer. If your site is slow to load, that slowness gets associated with your brand’s image. Slowness can really look terrible, it instantly ages your website, or worse, makes your brand look untrustworthy. Whether it’s a potential customer, already existing client or just someone having a nosey, your business will be judged on how fast your website shows up. Like it or not, being speedy builds credibility!

Search engines can be brutal, if your website is slow to load it can damage your search rankings. Mastering SEO is difficult, you can spend hours nailing keyword research and writing long blocks of content, only for your visibility to be dragged down because of your page load speed. Google has even confirmed that page load speed is something that affects a websites ranking, with sites that load quicker on both mobile and desktop appearing higher in the search engine results page. So, before you spend hours on your SEO efforts, it’s always worth nailing the basics first. 

Research has shown that for every extra second your website takes to load, conversion rates can drop by up to 20%. If you’re an ecommerce website, that could result in a huge loss. Page load speed can quite literally be the difference between a bounce and a buyer.

Read this paragraph…

No, that’s not a typo, it was made to grab your attention. The internet is a noisy place. Businesses are being smarter than ever to try and grab the consumers attention. You’re not just competing with other businesses, you’re competing with TikTok notifications, an inbox full of 20% offs and hundreds of already open tabs. If your websites are not there waiting for someone, they’re gone. Once they’ve gone the chances of seeing them again are slim. 

Here’s the good thing, page load speed isn’t the most complicated skill to master, it doesn’t require extensive work, following simple steps throughout your site will improve the speed. Below we’ve put together some simple page load speed tips that can point you in the right direction. 

Small Steps,
Big Impact

Simple steps to help with your website’s page load speed.

Optimise images

Large image files slow things down. Compress your images without losing their quality, changing them to an AVIF and WebP format.

Use lazy loading

Lazy loading defers loading images and videos until they’re about to enter the viewport. Not only does it save bandwidth but it also speeds up initial page load speed.

Browser caching

Caching stores parts of your site locally in the visitor’s browser, meaning when they come back your site loads much faster. 

Using fewer fonts

Every new font on your site is an extra request. Sticking to one or two fonts throughout your site keeps load times lower and your design clearer.

Un-installing or deleting any old plugins

Unused plugins can slow your site down. If it’s not doing a job, bin it and free up some space for other things to load.

Optimising your homepage

This is usually your most visited page, focus your energy on making that page the fastest to make your first impressions stronger.

Defer loading of assets

This might seem complicated but it just means prioritising loading what your users need first. This means things like delaying non critical scripts, like animations, until all the main content on the page has loaded.

Enable Gzip compression.

Gzip compression shrinks your files before they’re sent to the browser. The smaller the files the quicker they are to load. 

 

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN stores your site on servers around the world, loading content from the nearest server to the user, therefore speeding up load time.

Avoid too many elements on a page

The more elements on a page like buttons, images and videos the heavier it is to load. Keep your pages simple, clear and focused and you’ll notice an improvement in load time.

Some of these tips may seem small but together they can have a big impact!

We appreciate that, whilst some of these tips are quick and easy to implement, some can seem overwhelming. If you have any questions, or need any help at all feel free to get in touch. 

Hopefully these tips are proof that fixing your load speed doesn’t have to mean ripping your site apart. Often, it’s small tweaks that make the biggest difference, you’d be surprised how lean your site can feel with just a few small amendments. 

Whether you’re running a small business site or a busy e-commerce site, every second counts.

Don’t let a slow site be the reason someone clicks away.