No amount of informative, well-presented content with a gorgeous site design will make an impact if your website does not load fast enough. The speed with which a website loads has a direct impact on customer conversions.

Put simply, a page that loads faster is more likely to attract customers and keep them on the site long enough to do business. So by default, the complete opposite is also true: a slow page will drive away customers who do not want to wait. There goes potential brand engagement that could have turned a profit.

Website Speed Makes A Difference

Unfortunately, not too many business owners are up to speed regarding the importance of the performance of their website. They are likewise largely unaware of the importance of the role this plays in their company or organisation’s overall strategy. Having an outstanding, aesthetically-pleasing website will mean nothing if it takes forever to load. If you have quality content on a simple website that loads quickly, on the other hand, you will likely attract more visitors.

Here are some important things to keep in mind about website performance:

• Best practices in design are not handy here. Most people do research and shop on their smartphones, which means big images and increasing the size of style sheets can adversely affect the overall performance of the website. It’s also key to note that user experiences must be adopted into the design strategy.
• Shopping behaviour is directly related to performance. A lot of people generally tell their friends when they have a bad online experience, which creates a ripple effect in terms of reputation. According to Kissmetrics, 79% of people who are not satisfied with website performance while shopping online are far less likely to make another purchase there.
• Start Render Time is a critical metric. Across the internet, the median for Time to Start Render is roughly 2.5 seconds, but the top 10% allow for less than 900 milliseconds. This means the visitor will not have the time to think about whether or not he or she is actually actively waiting for content.
• Websites that are not mobile-friendly will drive customers away. A “mobile first” website can be life-changing for your business or organisation. Several years ago, Google did a study which found that mobile friendliness was a vital factor in purchase decisions. 61% of respondents shared that a bad experience via mobile had them more likely to leave. A whopping 67% of respondents are more likely to buy a product or use a service.

Conclusion

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular, will benefit greatly from staying on top of their website game. Knowing important factors with regards to web presence can help to leverage web performance insights so things can run smoothly. If there is no time to handle this on the company end, outsourcing will be very helpful also.

If you need help creating a professional website, contact BaseHost today! We offer web design and hosting services that you can afford.