When it comes to the internet, the factor that separates high-performance websites from mediocre ones is speed.
Speed is a killer, and if you don’t manage it correctly it can completely change how your website performs.
So, how severely it affects the website performance. Let’s take a look at the stats collected by the Hosting Tribunal:
– Slow loading speed leads to 11% lower page views
– Lowers conversations up to 7%
– Decreases customer satisfaction
If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, you are bound to see poor overall performance. Even Google knows the importance of faster loading website. It continually ranks faster sites higher as they offer better user experience.
Visitors’ expectations reflect this. Almost 47% of the visitors expect a website to load within two seconds. On top of that, 40% of the visitors also abandon sites that take more than 3 seconds to load.
One of the surveys done by Kissmetrics revealed that 79% of the visitors who abandon a slow website never return. That’s very high abandonment rate for any website.
If your website is slow, it will also get recommended less among the users, especially on social media, as users share their experiences freely.
The webmaster’s goal should be to have a faster loading website without sacrificing its functionality.
The good news is that there are a plethora of techniques that can be used to improve site speeds. We can use tools such as Page Speed, Google Webmaster Tools, and so on to keep us informed about our website performance and what must be done to boost up speed.
Here’s list the important factors that affect a website loading speed.
Factors that affect website loading speed
There are several factors that affect website speed regardless of whether the site is custom-coded or built with a CMS like Joomla or WordPress.
1. Server location – Server location plays a role in determining the loading speed. The people living near the server will load the website quicker than those living on a different continent.
2. Hosting – The quality of the hosting determines the website loading speed. If you are using a mediocre hosting platform, it will automatically impact loading times.
3. Website size – The website size directly impacts the loading speed. Websites that are larger will take a lot of time even on a faster connection.
4. Plugins and add-ons – Plugins and add-ons also impact website loading time. WordPress plugins, for example, can slow the website a little bit due to the processing time they add, as they rely heavily on database queries to function. Using fewer plugins helps.
To see other factors that determine website speed and its huge importance, read the awesome infographic below:
How Speed Affects Your Website (Infographic)
