Have you ever become frustrated when the website you want to visit doesn’t load quickly, or at all? This is what is referred to as Page Speed.
Page speed It is the amount of time it takes for a web page to load and fully display its content in a user’s web browser. It impacts the user experience of a website, and therefore is an important factor to consider as website developers and as a website owner. Faster page load times generally result in better user satisfaction and engagement. In addition, Google has suggested that page speed is a signal used by its algorithm to rank pages. Therefore, if you’re looking to appear higher in search results on Google, this is something you may want to consider looking into.
What Factors Influence page speed and how to optimise your website.
Factors such as website design, coding, hosting environment and the size and complexity of web page content. There are a few tools available to measure and optimise page speed, including:
1. Page speed testing tools.
There are tools available, to analyse the performance of web pages. These tools provide insight on areas across your website to optimise, that can improve load times. Our favourites page speed testing tools are Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix and Diib.
2. Content delivery networks (CDNs).
CDNs are networks of servers that distribute website content across multiple locations globally, reducing the distance between the user and the server, and hence improving page load times.
3. Caching.
“Ah it must be the cache” is a statement we say at SD far too often. Caching involves storing frequently accessed website content so that future requests for the data can be served quickly, without generating new requests to the server. This reduces load times.
4. Optimising images and other media.
Optimising images and other media files can reduce their file sizes, which can significantly impact page load times, especially for websites with lots of images and videos.
5. Minifying and compressing code.
Minifying and compressing HTML, CSS and JavaScript files and reduce their file sizes, resulting in faster page load times.
Why is Page Speed Important?
Slow page load times can lead to higher bounce rates. Where users leave the website before it fully loads, resulting in lost opportunities for engagement and conversions. Nobody wants that. Spending the time to optimise page speed is important to having great user experience and a successful website. It is a best practice to regularly monitor and optimise page speed to ensure that your website loads quickly and efficiently for your visitors.
Need help actioning your Page Speed Report? Get in touch.