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Why the Speed of Your Site Should Be a Priority

Why the Speed of Your Site Should Be a Priority

There are a lot of factors to take into consideration when choosing a Web host, including reliability, uptime guarantees, support, bandwidth, contract length, price, and more. However, something else you shouldn’t forget to take note of when comparing options on a site like www.Top10BestWebsiteHosting.com, is the server used, and whether or not it helps your site to run quickly.

This question is a vital one for anyone who wants to start or grow a blog in 2015. You may not have realized it, but it’s very important, for multiple reasons, to pay attention to the speed of your site. Read on for the rundown on why a fast loading time on each page of your blog is essential, and some handy tips to help improve your site’s speed today.

The Effect of Site Speed on Search Engine Optimization

Back in 2010, Google announced in a specific update that the company had decided to add a new signal into its search ranking algorithms: site speed. Since then, other factors like content and natural links are what most bloggers, business owners, and content managers have been focusing on. However, site speed really isn’t something that should be ignored when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO).

Keep in mind that even just a small change in your blog’s rankings on Google and other search engines can have a big impact on your business. After all, anything that helps to improve your organic rankings also of course leads to more traffic, increased brand awareness, and a typical rise in sales or other types of conversions.

The Effect of Site Speed on User Experience

web site speedFurthermore, another key reason to ensure your site loads as quickly as possible is that it creates a much better user experience. If potential customers come to your site only to find that it is slow to load, they will simply clic
k away. Don’t you find that you do the same thing yourself during your own online searches?

When websites are slow, bounce rates are high — meaning people click away and don’t bother spending time on a site — and page views drop dramatically. This translates to fewer clients and lost revenue. In fact, according to some data, even a one-second delay can result in the loss of 7 percent of sales. That percentage can translate to huge amounts of money over the long term, even for a small business.

What You Can Do to Increase Your Site’s Speed

Happily, there are a variety of factors that contribute to a site’s speed, and as a result, different strategies you can follow to make your website faster. For starters, examine your Web hosting. A sluggish site can often result from uneven service occurring from a shared server. Consider looking for a plan that gives you access to a dedicated server instead.

The design of your site can also be a factor. Try to choose a theme that is clean and light, and that isn’t burdened by bad and bloated code, or unnecessary images or JavaScript. As well, look for a design that is optimized for the type of site you use.

 

Also read: 4 Reasons You Don’t Get Organic Clicks

 

For example, WordPress users should select a theme that is designed specifically to run with that content management system. In addition, a top design will also be a mobile responsive one, and as such optimized to work on tablets and mobile devices (something that is becoming increasingly important).

You can also make your site run more quickly by removing any unnecessary widgets or plug-ins. Many sites actually have a lot of additional things added on to them that don’t even get used by readers. Make sure that any plug-ins on your site are really required and adding value. If not, remove them immediately. Similarly, incompatible apps and browsers can also cause havoc with the speed of your site, so analyze these too.

Having a large number of advertisements on your website can also cause it to run too slowly. Although of course you may want to generate as much revenue as possible through display ads and the like, you also need to weigh this up against the additional time that each ad takes to load. Examine whether slow-loading advertisements are really bringing in enough sales to warrant their addition to your site. If they only bring in small amounts of cash, it’s better to get rid of them.

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Giant images can also be an area where you’re weighing down your site without realizing it. Large graphics might look nice on the page and help to capture attention, but if they’re bloated and causing potential users to not even bother checking out your site, they should be removed.

No matter how quickly your site is currently loading, implement some of the above tips and you are sure to see a significant improvement in no time.

Now read these tips on how to implement speed changes to your site:

8 Ways to Make Your Website Faster

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View Comment (1)
  • With WordPress you also need to be careful on how big the site you are building is. If you want to build a directory or other style site, WP may not be the best choice. All of the tags and categories you use can actually slow down the site. If you have 1,000 pages across 300 categories and 2,000 tags your site can get hit with memory issues.

    I’m a fan of WordPress, but does require extra power to handle some of the overhead. Also GoDaddy has a plugin which allows you to measure how teach of your plugins are affecting load time. It really comes in hand.

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