Why a Slow-Loading Website Seriously Hurts Your Business.
No matter your business, a slow-loading website means lost sales, lower conversion, poor user experience, damages the brand and every day weakens your business.
It’s like having a high street shop with thousands of people walking past (potential customers) but your shop windows are smashed and boarded up.
Here are some stats:
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- 59% of global website traffic comes from mobile (66% Europe/ UK)
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- 74% of mobile users will abandon a website that takes 5 or more seconds to load (
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- A website that takes over 3 seconds to load has a 4x higher bounce rate than that pages that load in 2 seconds or less.
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- A one-second delay in loading times can reduce conversion rates by 20%.
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- 75% of customers won’t return to a site if it takes more than 4 seconds to load.
The Consequences of Slow Website Speed.
A slow website can seriously hurt your business in more ways than one. Firstly, it can drastically affect the customer experience. When a website takes too long to load, visitors may get frustrated and leave. In fact, statistics show that over 40% of users will abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.
This means that a slow website can result in a significant loss of potential customers and revenue for your business.
The Impact on Your Business.
The impact of a slow website can be felt throughout your entire business. Not only does it result in lost revenue, but it can also damage your online reputation.
Slow load times can make your business appear unprofessional and unreliable, which can deter potential customers from returning. In addition, a slow website can also negatively affect your search engine rankings, making it harder for potential customers to find you online.
Factors That Affect Website Speed.
There are several factors that can cause a website to be slow. One of the most common factors is large image and video files that take longer to load. Other factors include server response time, unoptimised code, and excessive use of plugins and scripts. It’s important to analyze your website’s speed regularly and identify any factors that may be causing it to slow down.
How Slow Websites Affect Customer Experience.
When it comes to online business, customer experience is key. A slow website can negatively affect the customer experience in several ways. For example, a slow website can cause frustration and impatience, which can lead to potential customers leaving your site before they make a purchase.
A slow website can also make it harder for users to navigate your site, which can lead to confusion and a lack of engagement.
How a slow-loading website can seriously hurt a business:
- Causes frustration and impatience in users, leading to potential customer loss
- Makes your business appear unprofessional and unreliable
- Damages your online reputation
- Negatively affects search engine rankings
- Results in lost revenue
What Causes a Website to Be Slow?
There are several factors that can contribute to a slow-loading website, including:
- Large images and other media files: When images and videos are not optimised, they can take a long time to load and cause delays in website speed.
- Hosting: If your website is hosted on a slow server or one that is not properly configured, it can slow down your website.
- Plugins and CSS scripts: Too many plugins and scripts can cause your website to slow down, especially if they are not properly optimised.
- Code and scripts: Poorly written code and scripts can cause your website to slow down.
- Traffic spikes: If your website experiences a sudden increase in traffic, it can cause your website to slow down or even crash.
What a business can do to improve a slow-loading website:
If your website is slow, there are several things you can do to improve its speed, including:
- Optimise images and other media files: Compress images and videos to reduce their size and use a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up delivery.
- Choose a good hosting provider: Make sure your hosting provider has fast servers and is properly configured for optimal performance.
- Minimise plugins and scripts: Only use plugins and scripts that are necessary and make sure they are properly optimised.
- Optimise code and scripts: Make sure your code and scripts are properly optimised for speed.
- Use caching – A cookie-based caching can help speed up your website by storing frequently used data and then reserving it automatically without having to fetch the code again.
- Consider a CDN: A content delivery network can help speed up your website by delivering content from servers located closer to your users.
- Minimise, pre and post-loading of JS / CSS
- Reduce large paints at the initial load
- Post-load items can be loaded later after the initial opening page has been rendered to the user.
- Talk to a professional business design agency that specialises in website design across all devices.
How Much Money Can a Company Lose Because of a Slow Website?
A slow website can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. In fact, studies have shown that even a one-second delay in website load time can lead to:
- 11% fewer page views
- 16% decrease in customer satisfaction
- 7% loss in conversions
- 7% loss in revenue
Google with its trillions of live second statistics states that with just a one-tenth of a second reduction in slow-loading website load times, an eCommerce site would increase potential revenue by 8.4% and a typical retail store by as much as 10.6%. Extrapolate this out and you get to see how serious an impact a slow-loading website can have on a business.
An eCommerce website should aim for a load time of 2 seconds or even less.
For all other sites, you should target a load time of <1-2 seconds.
In conclusion, a slow website can seriously hurt your business. It can lead to a poor customer experience, decreased conversions, and lost revenue.
However, by identifying the factors that may be slowing down your site and implementing the necessary improvements, you can speed up your website, boost your online presence and revenue and provide a positive user experience.