Having a slow website in 2021 is a big no-no. Not only does having a slow website speed deter people away from your site by giving you a high bounce rate, but it also affects your search engine optimisation (SEO) performance.
A bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. So if your website is loading slow and as a result, people leave your website without going onto other pages, it will increase this rating. The higher your bounce rate, the harder it will be to rank on Google. There are exceptions of course, to which you can read more about from Google here.
Contrary to popular belief, SEO is not all about pay per clicks (PPC), Google Ads and stuffing your website full of keywords. One of the biggest factors that can make or break your rankings on Google is your website itself. If your website is poorly built, has a bad user interface or is generally out of date, you will find it much harder to rank on search engines than other businesses might. You may find our blog on 5 Reasons Why You Need to Update Your Website helpful to see if your website needs to be updated.
Google uses a bot to “scroll” through websites acting as a pretend user. If the bot finds that your website has a long response time and is hard to navigate, it will negatively affect your SEO.
DO YOU HAVE A TEMPLATE WEBSITE?
One of the main reasons your website might be slow is because it is a template website. At Creative Shed Agency this is the sole reason why we do not build template websites. All of our websites are bespoke and designed specifically for each client to meet their precise needs. A template website’s code will typically be stuffed full of plugins, fonts, apps, etc. that you will probably never need or use. The lack of flexibility they provide can also cause you and your business more hassle than they are worth further down the line.
SO WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FACTORS YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF THAT CAN HELP REDUCE YOUR WEBSITE LOADING SPEED?
IMAGES
Large, high-quality images might look great but they take a long time to load and as a result, reduces your website speed. Image compressors are great for a quick fix but in the long run, consider only using PNG files for images that don’t need high detail and JPEG for pictures. Resize your photos to the correct size. This will dramatically reduce the loading time on your website.
HOSTING
You get what you pay for. A cheap hosting service can be unreliable and cause major issues for your website’s loading speed. So always choose a hosting service that’s suitable for your business needs. Creative Shed uses the latest server technology with excellent security features for our hosting services.
ADS
Having too many ads on your website can not only irritate your visitors, but it also can affect your website’s loading speed.
VIDEOS
Videos can be a great tool to showcase your products or services. For example, we have one on our homepage! However, they can reduce your website speed significantly. Therefore, it is always best to ensure the videos are optimised and you host the videos on your website from your server.
TEMPLATE CODE
Many template websites come with themes, effects, plugins and apps which affect the loading speed of your page. They contain a considerable amount of coding in them and as a result, are slow to load causing a negative effect on your website speed.
WIDGETS
Widgets normally consist of areas for visitors to comment on posts or social media buttons. While they can be useful, they can affect your website speed.
CHECK YOUR WEBSITE SPEED WITH OUR FREE WEBSITE REPORT
At Creative Shed, we offer a free, no-obligation website performance report which you can register for by sending us a message. Alternatively, if you want to find out more about the websites we provide, you can read about our web design services. If it’s an eCommerce website you’re after, we have you covered on that too.
