Several factors impact the success of your business’s digital marketing efforts. But few are more important than your page speed. Although this may sound basic or obvious, slow-loading pages can be anything from mildly annoying to deal-breaking when it comes to creating a positive creative experience for your visitors.
No matter how beautiful your pages are or how engaging your content is, if they don’t load quickly, you make it easy for users to leave and seek out your competition. So, how can you improve the speed of your pages? This article will give you some insight into what affects page loading speed and what you can do about it.
Understanding speed and SEO
First, you need to understand what it means when you say ‘page speed.’ This is actually different from site speed which is defined as the page speed for a number of views on a site.
Page speed, however, is usually defined by either page load time or time to first byte. The former is the time it takes for the content of a particular page to display. The latter is the time it takes for the browser to receive the first byte from the server.
Search engines like Google use page speed as one of their parameters to rank websites. This means faster loading pages will also help your website get better placement on search results.
Method one: compression of design elements
Website design plays an important role in speeding up your page loading times. If you need a website design team in Bromley, you’re already on the right page.
You can improve your page loading speed by compressing CSS, HTML, and Javascript files, which are bigger than 150 bytes. For image files, it’s better to use specialised software like Photoshop so you can maintain the quality of the image while you optimise or make the file size smaller.
Optimising your code by removing unnecessary characters like spaces, commas, comments, and unused code will also greatly improve your page loading speed. Here are some resources from Google to help.
Method two: Optimise for mobile devices
According to Statista, mobile internet use in the UK is expected to grow from 90.3 per cent this year to 93.59 per cent by 2025. This unprecedented trend means people are becoming more likely to access your website using their mobile device. Because of this, it’s important to make sure that your pages are optimised for mobile. This involves checking your resolution, your content, your design and seeing if they render well on mobile devices.
Method three: Use caching
Web browsers usually keep files from certain websites so the next time the user visits that particular site, it will load more quickly. This is called caching. Cached information usually has an expiration date or how long it will be kept in the browser. You can set this expiration date to a year so people returning to your pages will have an easier and faster experience.
Method four: set up content distribution networks
Content distribution networks or CDN is basically the process of storing multiple copies of your website in different geographical locations so users from all around the world can access information closer to them. This translates to real improvements to page loading times, especially if you choose the best CDNs based on your target audience.
Page loading speed is one of the most important qualities of your website – one that you should prioritise. By improving your page speed, you also increase your chances of getting better placement in search results. Follow these tips for faster pages and an overall better user experience.
If you have more questions about improving page speed, website design, or the other services that we offer, call us at 0208 776 0400 or send us a message via our contact form.