Why Load Speed Matters More Than Ever

Website load speed is crucial for user experience, search engine optimisation (SEO), and conversion rates.

Better User Experience

Slow-loading pages often lead to higher bounce rates and reduced user engagement. Research by Jakob Nielsen identifies three key response-time limits:

• 0.1 second: Feels instantaneous to users.
• 1.0 second: Keeps users’ thought flow uninterrupted, though the delay is noticeable.
• 10 seconds: Beyond this, users’ attention wanes, prompting them to seek other tasks.

Users Spend More Time on Faster Sites

Modern users expect even faster responses. A 2018 Google study found that 53% of mobile users abandon sites taking longer than three seconds to load. Additionally, Google considers page speed a ranking factor, affecting SEO. Tools like PageSpeed Insights evaluate performance on mobile and desktop, offering improvement suggestions.

Speed and Conversion

Conversion rates are also impacted by load times. Notably:

• Optimal conversion occurs with 0-4 second load times.
• The first five seconds of load time significantly influence conversion rates.
• Each additional second between 0-5 seconds can reduce conversion rates by an average of 4.42%.
• Between 0-9 seconds, each extra second can cause a 2.11% drop in conversion rates.

Key Things to Check

To find out how your site is performing and to identify how it can be optimised, there are several tools at hand, including GT Metrix and Google Console. You should also consider the ‘things to check’ which will impact your site’s speed, positively or negatively. These are:

• Image optimisation: Use appropriate formats and compress file sizes to reduce download times.
• Lazy loading: Load content as needed to improve initial performance.
• File minification: Eliminate unnecessary data in code to streamline processing.
• Server performance: Address factors like application logic and hardware resources to reduce response times.
• User tracking: Limit tracking codes to balance data collection with site performance.

To wrap things up, let’s have a look at some straight-talking stats around page speed. And in particular, how a one-second delay in page load time impacts your site:

• 11% fewer page views
• 16% decrease in customer satisfaction
• 7% loss in conversions

So, how is your website performing?

Regularly assessing your website with tools like GTmetrix and Google Console can help identify areas for optimisation, leading to improved user satisfaction and better overall performance.

For assistance in enhancing your website’s load speed and performance, contact us at hello@seddigital.co.uk.