Do you feel the need, the need for speed?
So does everyone else.
47% of people expect pages to load in just two seconds or less. Failure to meet that expectation and your conversions will tank. 40% of website visitors will abandon the page if it takes more than three seconds to load.
But humans aren’t the only ones who prefer fast—search engines do too. In fact, some of the key metrics, or ranking factors, that search platforms like Google Search use to rank a website in search engine results pages (SERPs) involve website loading speed. The faster the site, the better the rankings… so long as you as also follow other good SEO practices.
If you’re seeing high bounce rates, low conversion rates, and poor SERP rankings, page load speed could be the issue.
So, we will ask you again: Do you feel the need, the need for site speed optimization? Yes? Then take the following steps to increase website speed.
Site Speed and SEO
First things first. Before we discuss how to boost website speed, we need to discuss why it’s vital to SEO.
Human beings love faster internet. Google, Bing, and other search platforms know that and reward websites that offer a faster user experience.
In addition to relevancy to a search query and site authority, Google has defined 5 page experience factors to adjust search rankings. Those 5 factors are:
- Mobile device friendliness
- Safe browsing
- HTTPS
- No intrusive interstitials
- Core web vitals
The first four factors give a pass or fail score, while core web vitals give “Good,” “Needs Improvement,” or “Poor” scores.
Core web vitals, before March 12, 2024, were composed of the following three metric types:
- Largest contentful paint (LCP). LCP scores depend on whether your page/site loads in 2.5 seconds or less.
- First input delay (FID). FID scores rate the responsiveness of your web page and how quickly a page becomes interactive.
- Cumulative layout shift (CLS). CLS scores depend on how stable your web page is while it loads.
After March 12, 2024, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) has replaced First Input Delay (FID) as a core web vital metric type. INP, according to Google, is more comprehensive, and takes into account how much time it takes for a site to process and display all user interactions, not just the first.
The first two core web vital metric types (LCP and INP) involve speed, meaning that increasing the responsiveness rate and decreasing page loading times can boost these two scores and, therefore, your ranking in Google SERPs.
11 Steps to Increase Website Speed
1. Improve the TTFB.
Sorry, more jargon and acronyms! TTFB stands for “time to first byte.”
TTFB is how long a web browser needs to wait until the server receives the first byte of data. Google says that your TTFB should be less than 200ms for optimal performance.
There are many potential reasons why your server may not be responding as quickly as you want, including:
- Slow routing
- Memory starvation
- Frameworks
- Slow database queries
- Slow application logic
- Resource CPU starvation
Once you’re able to identify why the response time is so high, you can improve your TTFB.
2. Reduce the response time of your server.
DNS stands for “domain name system.” It’s a server with a database of IP addresses and names of hosts. Your page load speed is directly related to your DNS lookup time.
Here’s how it works. When someone types a URL into a browser, the DNS server converts the IP address to show its location on the internet. A slow DNS increases the amount of time a web browser takes to locate your site. If you can speed up this process, you’ll speed up your overall page loading time.
You can speed up a DNS server by either manually changing its settings or finding a new server to host your site.
3. Select the best web hosting provider.
When it comes to hosting a website, most people make the mistake of choosing the cheapest option. Sure, it might be the only viable option right now, but it’s not a good option for the long-term.
As your website traffic grows – and it hopefully will – you’ll need to upgrade your hosting.
There are three ways for you to host your website:
- shared hosting
- VPS hosting
- dedicated server
For the most part, shared hosting will be the least expensive choice. That’s because you’ll be sharing things like RAM and disk space with other websites also hosted on that server.
If you choose VPS hosting, you still share server space with other websites, but you have certain portions for your own resources.
Here’s a visual explanation of the difference between shared hosting and VPS hosting:
VPS hosting will likely cost more, but if you have more website traffic, it makes it easier for you to have more resource-intensive content.
Of course, a dedicated server of your own gives you the most space to spread out.
There’s a direct line from the server resources to your website, but it does require more work on your end. The setup is more technical than the other options, so if you don’t know how to set it up yourself, you’ll need someone else to configure everything for you.
A dedicated server is the most expensive option, but it gives you the most control over your site. If you have a lot of traffic causing slow loading times, you should consider updating your server hosting.
4. Enable browser caching.
When someone visits a website, the elements on each page they visit are temporarily stored on a hard drive, which is called a cache. Then, when they revisit the same website, the browser can load the page using the stored data without sending another HTTP request back to the server. This process can shave valuable time off your site loading time.
Enabling caching is an excellent option if you’re using a lot of visual elements on your website. It’ll speed up the loading time for your repeat website visitors, which will make them happier. You can enable browser caching by either directly editing site code. Or, if you’re not into web development, you can enable a plugin like W3 Total Cache.
5. Enable lazy loading.
Many websites are eager beavers. They use “eager loading,” a loading process that loads everything on a page at once. While eager loading is popular, it isn’t always the most optimal in terms of loading speed.
We’ll let you in on a secret: sometimes being lazy is a good thing… at least when it comes to site loading speed.
“Lazy loading” means nonessential parts of your website—like images—load only when they are needed. You can enable lazy loading in a few different ways. WordPress, for example, adding <img loading=”lazy”> to image and video attributes can enable lazy loading.
6. Combine/minify your files.
Each file on your site increases the loading time. That’s because additional files require additional HTTP requests. It’s like when you’re carrying several bags of groceries up to your third floor, no elevator apartment. It’s going to take you longer because you’re loaded down.
Fortunately, there are easy solutions to this problem.
If you have a WordPress website, you can access plugins to reduce file size by removing unnecessary characters and eliminating anything that isn’t need for site code to function, including:
7. Eliminate unnecessary redirects.
There are multiple reasons you might have redirects on your website. Maybe you’re tracking clicks or want a URL to represent a newer, better page on your site. While redirects have their place, too many of them can slow down your site.
Specifically, several redirects can increase latency and add an extra HTTP request, which can increase how long it takes a page to load.
Our recommendation?
Don’t set up more than one redirect for the same resource. If you have to have a redirect, make sure it goes straight from the start point to the target page and doesn’t redirect anywhere else.
8. Compress files.
If you have smaller file sizes, your pages will load that much faster.
To compress files, you can use tools like:
- Gzip. This tool gives you a report that shows the total size of your compressed files and uncompressed files.
- WinRAR. This tool does it all, from compressing to encrypting to archiving data.
- PeaZip. It’s cute, it’s free, and it gets the job done on a variety of operating systems, including ReactOS, MacOS, Microsoft Windows, BSD, and Linux.
9. Optimize images.
Large image sizes can seriously tank site performance. The solution? Optimize images.
Image optimization doesn’t just mean you resize an image. It goes much further than that: you need to yank some pixels (and metadata) out of the image files themselves.
Here are some tools you can use to compress images:
- Smush Image Compression. This WordPress site plugin has a funny name, but it gets the job done so your website will load faster.
- TinyPNG. All hail the panda. This app can compress WebP, PNG, and JPEG image formats for FREE, up to 5 MB each.
- ImageOptim. This app reduces image file sizes and removes private EXIF metadata.
PRO TIP: Make your life easier. Compress images before you upload them.
10. Rethink web fonts.
Quirky web fonts are fun, but they can increase HTTP requests for your site and, therefore, slow down your site. Rethink which fonts you use on your site and how much they can impact site speed.
Remember, when it comes to website optimization, every little bit counts.
11. Check site performance regularly.
Things change; your web pages are no different. Stay on top of your game by checking site speed regularly. You can run website speed tests with tools like:
- Pingdom. Sweden has given the world so much: ABBA, IKEA, and Pingdom to name a few. Pingdom allows user experience monitoring and offers suggestions to boost speed.
- Google PageSpeed Insights. Google ranks your site. Google knows how fast your site goes. Use Google to check site speed. Use that info to correct mistakes on your site. Google rewards you with higher SERP results. You dig?
- GTmetrix. Actionable insights meet free with GTmetrix.
Partner with the Experts
Improving your website loading time will ultimately optimize your user experience, boost rankings in SERPs, and help you increase revenue. But website load time isn’t something you think about all the time. It certainly isn’t a factor that you think would have such a significant impact on your website’s performance.
However, if people don’t even see your website, you can’t possibly determine if your content or design is effective. Making sure your load time is up to par is a small way to ensure your hard work doesn’t go unappreciated.
It’s possible that some of the smallest changes will make the most significant impact on your website performance. Website loading time isn’t the only aspect of your website that can affect your conversions, but it is a place to start.
Want to learn more about how you can increase website speed? Do you need help creating a comprehensive digital strategy that will set your website apart? Drop us a line! Our solutions are personalized and our consultations free.
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