9 Simple Steps to Website Speed Optimization and Major Reasons Why It Matters

Author: Alexey Porubay

There are no second chances when it comes to usability of a product. Every detail matters and the website load time isn't an exception. In fact, it's one of the most irritating problems for users that make them leave and never turn back. Surveys suggest that 40% of people abandon a website that loads longer than 3 seconds. Just think, almost half of your potential customers will leave the website if it loads longer than 3 seconds! At the same time, high-performance websites demonstrate better results on a number of parameters including conversion, ranking, engagement etc.In other words, a slow website won't bring you the same level of revenue as performative one. So, in this guide, we unveil some simple steps to website load speed optimization.

Why web speed optimization mattersComing back to stats, the survey from Kissmetrics shows that 79% of users are less likely to visit a website with performance issues once again. Moreover, 52% of surveyed shoppers assert that performance is an important ingredient for their loyalty. This means faster websites generate quality leads.No doubts, surveys are a great way to learn the attitude of customers to whatever you need. However, the website load speed optimization example from a well-known company would be more valuable, right?Walmart is a great fit for this. Having measured the website load time and performed the initial analysis, the company found out that users who converted had two times faster loading speed compared to the ones who didn't convert.

By the end of optimization, they've managed to remarkably increase their conversion rates along with revenue. Also, the company shared the following stats:

  • Every second of loading acceleration resulted in a 2% conversion growth;
  • Every 100 milliseconds of loading acceleration resulted in a 1% incremental revenue growth.
Needless to say about website performance optimization importance if such giant as Google has once faced a 20% decrease in traffic because pages were loading 5 seconds longer than they used to.Except for conversion rates we've already touched upon, the website load time optimization can influence the visibility and experience of using it. Let's get this sorted out:VisibilityGoogle's search engine takes into account a myriad of different factors when ranking websites. And the time a website requires to load a page is among them. There is a quite clear logic behind this. In the eye of Google's algorithms, websites that load pages too long lead to bad experience for users and should be downgraded in ranking.More here https://www.cleveroad.com/blog/these-9-website-performance-optimization-techniques-will-help-you-speed-up-your-website