At this point, having a fast website may not seem like a big deal to you, since you should be concerned about creating quality content and offering a top-notch user-friendly layout , right? In reality, none of this matters if you can't increase your website's speed .
According to research by Kissmetrics , 79% of users do not return to pages that have loading issues. So how do you know if your website is loading fast enough? Consider the data below:
47% of people expect a page to load in less than 2 seconds;
40% simply leave the page if it takes more than 3 seconds.
Google has a website speed test tool that uses very similar analysis parameters.
For example, it classifies pages that load faster than 2 seconds as fast or good. Between 3 and 4 seconds, as average. Above 4 seconds, slow.
In other words, those who fail to increase the speed of their website lose a lot in terms of user experience. This also affects organic positioning in search engines and even the chances of achieving a conversion.
Step by step guide to increasing website speed
You may be worried if you tested your page using the Think With Google tool. This is because many pages that we think are within acceptable standards take a long time to load.
There are several factors that can influence this, from the way the website is programmed to the use of images.
To help you understand how to increase website speed , we have prepared a very simple step-by-step guide that you can follow even if you are not a web programmer. However, we recommend that you work with one to achieve more efficient results.
1. Work with appropriate image sizes
Many websites that take a long time to load have problems with images, as it is common to save each image in very large formats to maintain its quality. In fact, the website will not display them in their full size, but will need to store them. In other words, they will be saved, but will lose performance.
Therefore, research the maximum size of images displayed guatemala phone number data on each part of your website. Then, take care of the format in which you will save them, which must be web-friendly, such as PNG.
There are also tools that compress images before uploading them to the site, such as Compress JPEG and TinyPng , which have free features.
2. Evaluate the need for each plugin
Is your website managed by WordPress ? That's great! You're off to a good start, but you need to be careful when choosing your plugins.
This platform has one of the most intuitive and widely used content managers on the web. However, it can be a problem for those who like to tinker with their website a lot and don't understand programming.
WordPress uses plugins to make visual or functional changes. There are thousands of them available, some free and some paid, that aim to make the life of the website manager easier.
The problem is that some people install too many plugins. Remember: anything that takes up space on your server will affect your website's loading speed, including plugins.
So, anyone who wants to increase the speed of their website should review all installed plugins and remove those that do not need to be there.
For example: Have you installed 2 that do the same thing? Or do you have one that hasn't been used for a long time? You can remove it!
3. Upgrade your hosting plan if necessary
Sometimes, your website speed doesn't improve much even though you've made several changes. The problem may not be with your website itself, but with your hosting.
Portals that store large amounts of content or are accessed frequently need more “robust” hosting.
Is this your case?
To find out, take a look at your current hosting plan and see how it can be improved. It may be better to switch to a cloud option or dedicated hosting.
If it seems like a huge investment, think carefully. Is it worth losing customers because your loading speed is slow? Or would it be better to increase your site speed with proper hosting?