It’s a fact – nobody likes using slow websites!
To add some context to this… 1 in 4 people will leave your website and look for the results elsewhere if it takes more than 4 seconds to show.
The average website speed is 3.21 seconds, so most sites should be fine when it comes to losing visitors because of slow page load times.
But who wants to be average?!
The speed of pages that appear on the first page of a Google search is usually faster, with an average of 1.65 seconds.
In this post, we introduce five easy things you can do to optimise your website, and move towards being a page speed top performer.
Let’s dive in.
5 ways to improve your website load times
1. Choose the right hosting service for a fast website
Hosting is the foundation of site speed.
No matter how optimised your website is, if you use low quality hosting, your site will never be a s fast (or secure) as it can be.
As a small business owner, you’re interested in reducing your costs, but this is an area where you need to ensure you are getting value.
Look for hosting that offers server level optimisation, content delivery networks (CDN) and has high-quality hardware. All hosting providers will have this information available for you to view.
2. Assess your website speed performance
Before making any changes to your current website, you need to assess its performance. This will help you determine the problems with loading your web pages and will highlight content that causes more issues to prioritize improving speed.
For example, if your web pages take a lot of time to load, you might want to contact your web hosting service and change the server. Likewise, if images and videos take longer to load, you might need to work on fixing this content.
Two great tools to help you assess your website speed performance are:
Both will identify the exact issues, and provide some suggestions on how to fix them.
3. Use a caching plugin
This will save time every time your website loads by offering a static HTML instead of building your webpage with PHP every time someone clicks your link.
Of course, this technical issue can be solved if you’re working with a reliable hosting service, but if you’re trying to fix the problem by yourself, you can install a caching plugins to enjoy faster speed and better website performance.
One of the best WordPress caching plugins available is WP Rocket
4. Optimize images to help your site load faster
Images are crucial for successful web content, but they load a lot slower than text.
So, instead of flooding your content with images and videos, use them strategically where needed and replace them with relevant text to increase your website’s speed.
Try compressing images before adding them to your website, and use the WebP format instead of PNG.
Use PNGs where logos and signs represent a part of your image, and select the JPG format only when you need to display images in high quality with minimum modification before uploading them.
You can also use a WordPress plugin to reduce the file size of images you upload to your website.
One of our favourites is EWWW Image Optimizer.
5. Use a content delivery network (CDN)
A content delivery network stores the data required to load your website on various servers.
Each one hosts replicas of your content, so when a someone visits your website, the CDN will reload your website’s information from the closest server.
CDNs improve your website’s load time, especially if you have global traffic, but they represent an excellent investment for your small business.
When you host your website with us, we provide a CDN free as part of your package.
In summary
Optimising your website’s loading speed is crucial for your online success.
People will be less interested in your content if your website is too slow. The good news is, by following these 5 site speed optimisation tips we outlined here you’ll be most of the way towards creating a fast website.
I’m a marketer based in Wales, UK. I love working with ambitious small businesses and helping them unlock the full potential of proper marketing. I created Brandspace as the starting point for doing this, and while we focus on websites and search, I can provide full strategic marketing support for your business.