With so many websites online, it’s easy to see why so many customers are so unforgiving. If your site is frustrating to use, then a customer will simply move on to the next site. Slow loading time is the number one reason customers abandon a site. Regardless of design and user-experience, if you site is slow to load then you could be losing potential customers and more importantly potential profits.
The importance of speed
Nothing is more importance than the speed of a website. A recent survey proved this when it stated that 67% of UK consumers say a slow loading website was the main reason they would abandon an online purchase. A recent study by a travel site found that 57% of customers abandoned the website after only 3 seconds, due to slow loading times. New research also found that a one second increase in load time (i.e. 1.1 seconds to 2.1 seconds) could cause 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7% loss in conversions. Using Amazon.com as an example, considering the above statistics, this would cost them $1.6 billion a year.
Search engines also take into consideration the speed of your website when ranking your site. If your website has performance issues such as pages not loading, or slow loading times, you will be penalised.
It’s also important to consider how your website works on a mobile phone. One in every four Americans now only use their phone to surf the Internet and this is set to double by 2016. Mobile phones users are just as unforgiving when it comes to site loading time. A recent survey showed that 60% of smartphone users will leave a website if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds and 74% of users will leave after just 5 seconds.
Many website owners seem happy with the performance of their site and seem to be reluctant to take a page speed test. After all, if the design and offerings on your site are too good to miss, won’t customers be a bit more patience. Some will. But most won’t. If you fail to understand the importance of page loading time, you are doing a disservice to your business. If you feel the budget for your website will not cover a site speed test and site performance test, then you need to find a way to stretch the budget.
It doesn’t matter if you have the best team of marketers in the world, or you offer the worlds best customer service, without a website that performs well, it means nothing.
Improving your website performance and speed is best performed by a company who specialise in website performance. If you’re looking to improve conversions and customer satisfaction, then you need to improve your websites performance today. The first thing to do is test website speed.
You can easily do a site speed test by visiting a site online and typing in your domain. You’ll then receive a free report, with an in-depth analysis of your site.
