Is your website loading slowly? Well, this is an issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Since among the parameters that search engines prioritize when viewing your content, is the loading speed of each site.
Therefore, among your next important steps, you must include functional elements that allow you to increase conversion. To do this, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to improve your website speed.
What Affects Your Website Speed?
Your website loading speed refers to the time it takes to display all the content (text, images, videos) on the user’s screen. A study by Portent indicates that after 5 seconds readers are unlikely to stay there. So today we are sharing with you the 5 most relevant factors for your website to load quickly.
Complements
Plugins are one of the easiest ways to add functionality to your website from a CMS. However, sometimes we get out of hand with quantity. As a result, we get a page that takes a while to load due to the increase in installed plugins.
Using a free and easy website builder will only guarantee the results you are looking for if you can balance user experience, design and technical aspects. For this last aspect, the solution comes from the positive answer to these questions:
Do you use all the plugins you installed to build your website? Is it configured correctly? Is there one that can do two of these jobs?
Image Size
The strategy here is to use images in the smallest file size possible without compromising on quality. For this you must know some general rules. For starters, be reasonable about the format you use. In the case of JPEG, it is best for images that contain a lot of colors. Use PNGs for simple or transparent images. Finally, save GIFs for animated images only.
On the other hand, the most common way to enhance images is to resize them. Many SEO experts advise, as a rule, that images should be no more than 300 KB.
Most image editors will make it easy to correct even the heaviest images without losing visual quality.
Web Hosting Server
The response time of the server you select to host your website is crucial. It is important, if you are not fluent in this language, that you take note of the data. In general, for your website to have a good loading speed, the server must offer a TTFB (Time To First Byte) or time to receive the first bit of information of less than 200 milliseconds.
Other recommendations for your hosting to ensure speed are:
- Select one where the hardware supports SSD (Solid State Drive) type
- If you choose a shared hosting server, make sure it is not overloaded
- Locate your website on hosting that is geographically close to your target audience.
Inactive Code
The development team should be careful not to add unnecessary HTTP requests. This makes it very difficult for your page to load. Programmers’ work should focus on using methods where only what the reader needs at that moment is shown.
On the other hand, it is advisable to take other measures, such as enabling browser caching. In fact, by removing all the unwanted or dead code, line breaks and spaces in it, you will significantly improve your website speed.
Amount of Rich Content
You want to carefully plan the rich content displayed on your site. On the other hand, it should contribute to a satisfactory browsing experience for users. However, photos and videos must also be Google-compatible.
To achieve this goal the solution is simple. Don’t put too much rich content on one page. This will make your website load time easier. Also, from a visual point of view, your netizens will thank you.
How do you Measure your Site’s Loading Speed?
At this point, it’s time to evaluate the results. You already know the main aspects to improve the loading speed of your website. Well, now we are going to show you how to check whether the changes are working or not.
To do this, you can use free online tools that allow you to see how fast your website is loading on different types of devices. There are very useful solutions to get the job done.
In less than a minute, they show you opportunities for improvement and a personalized diagnosis of your site’s speed.
Since you can increase your page speed, you increase your chances of converting a reader into a prospect. Of course, always make sure there is a proper balance between improved technical elements and a quality experience for your users.
