Load times are important for many reasons. The speed your website loads on a device is one of the indicators Google uses to rank your website. In addition, fast loading websites provide a quality user experience. The slower your website loads the more likely it is that people will leave your website. Fast websites rank better in search engines and keep people on your website.
Every second matters
When it comes to load times every second counts. Roughly half of consumers expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less. Forty percent of people will abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Literally, every second counts.
How fast is your site?
While Google doesn’t use page load time as a major ranking factor. It is a factor. Google searches will likely be a major source of traffic to your business website. If site speed is within your control it is valuable to optimize it.
Google offers an excellent tool to find out how fast your business website loads. Visit
https://developers.google.com/speed/
Enter your domain name into the test tool. After only a few moments, Google will provide you with simple report about your websites site speed. Your site will will receive a score of 0 to 100 based on a mobile and desktop test.
If you’re not satisfied with your test score, Google provides suggestions to improve. Share this report with your web developer.
Speed begins with your choice of platform
There are many factors that impact site speed. Improving some of these factors will require a developer. However, platform and hosting have a substantial impact on site speed. As the business owner your best opportunity to make a major impact on site speed is at the beginning of the process. Choosing the right platform is key.
Research the reviews of different closed source systems. You will find reviews about the performance of different platforms. Closed source companies, like Shopify will supply the platform and the hosting. If you use an open source solution, you’ll need to find hosting as well. Read reviews about your hosting company. Both will influence your site performance.
The point
It does not matter how you achieve a fast site speed. It matters that you do. If your site loads fast it provides a great experience for your consumers. If it loads slow then visitors will leave your website.