Due to the high competition in the network, it is not enough to simply develop a good site design and choose interesting content. Optimizing page loading speed is the main goal of any project, the successful implementation of which depends on high conversion and company profits. Let’s figure out why you should speed up your site and discuss the main methods of optimizing page loading.
Countless research reports and tests prove that site speed optimization is the best investment! Search engines direct visitors to a page where they will be satisfied with the result, so the importance of the content is immediately clear, as well as the speed, which improves interaction with the user.
For example, Amazon says that if the speed of the Amazon.com website slows down for one second, it costs the company $1.6 billion a year. It turns out that even if it is a very popular and respected site like Amazon, customers will not put up with slow loading pages.
A study by the Aberdeen Group found that pages that load more than 3 seconds lose almost half of their visitors. On the basis of the research, important conclusions were drawn. A page load delay of one second leads to a disappointing result:
The speed of the site is important first of all for effective contact with the user. Resources that load quickly have a low percentage of waste and maximum time spent by the visitor on the page.
Harry Shum, Microsoft’s executive vice president of artificial intelligence and research, emphasizes that even a difference in page load time of 0.25 seconds will allow you to stand out from the competition. Visitors would rather spend time looking at information on other sites than wait a few seconds for a real site to load the information they need about products and services.
According to research, if the loading process takes more than 4 seconds, 1 out of every 4 visitors will leave the site. Almost half of users do not return to ineffective websites. More than 70% percent of customers who visit a mobile site leave from pages that take more than 5 seconds to load. According to Google’s recommendations, the site page loading speed should not exceed 2 seconds from a desktop browser, 3-4 seconds from a smartphone or tablet.
There are many useful free services that allow you to check the loading speed of a site. During the test, the service generates performance estimates based on a set of rules, such as caching, client-server reception-transmission time, data upload-download size, and visitor interaction.
Based on the results of the inspection, detailed reports on the loading speed of desktop and mobile sites are provided, on the basis of which you can draw the correct conclusions and take the necessary measures for optimization.
Each speed test tool checks performance parameters differently, allowing you to identify different issues. Thus, test results obtained using different services may differ. For a more complete analysis, it is recommended to use several available tools.
Google PageSpeed Insights is one of the most frequently used free speed testing services. For the most effective assessment, a 100-point system is used. To use the service, you need to enter your URL in a special line and click the “analyze” button.
According to the results of PageSpeed Insights, a value of 90 and above is considered fast, between 50 and 90 is average, and below 50 is considered slow. In addition, based on the results obtained, Page Speed Insight suggests improvements to improve site performance.
PageSpeed Insights is powered by the world’s largest and most popular search engine, Google. Therefore, using the received recommendations, you can significantly reduce the loading time, especially on smartphones, which will give you an advantage over your competitors.
Pingdom is a simple but no less accurate service that has been working since 2007 to make the Internet fast and reliable. More than 850,000 companies use the service, including Spotify, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Zendesk and MailChimp. Pingdom allows you to test website speed in more than 100 locations in Europe, America and Asia.
With over 22 billion sites tested each month, Pingdom scores your site’s performance against 12 different criteria. The service allows you to monitor the dynamics of the speed of your resource over time, recording the results of all tests conducted on the site.
To run a free Pingdom website speed test, you need to enter its address and select the nearest location. When you run the test using the “Start Test” button, you will be taken to a table of results showing the page load times in your location.
Below the table is the “Improving page performance” section, which lists items that need improvement to increase the speed of the site.
GTmetrix is one of the most popular speed analysis services. GTmetrix, which has such well-known users as Microsoft, Hp, PayPal, BMW, Nike, Samsung, is a speed test service. The goal is to increase website loading speed by providing comprehensive reports and recommendations.
GTmetrix test results are provided as a pdf file where you can get information about how fast your site loads from 28 servers in Vancouver, Canada.
In GTmetrix, you can choose where to check the URL by testing sites using Chrome (Desktop) and Firefox (Desktop) and according to different connection speeds. GTmetrix values range from 0 (F) to 100 (A).
WebPageTest is another free and open source speed test site developed by Patrick Meenan, an engineer at Google Chrome. If you want to find the problems that are causing your site to run slowly, you should use WebPagetest. The service will provide detailed charts and reports that will allow you to get an in-depth analysis of your site’s speed test results!
Dareboost is a speed test service used by such famous companies as American Express, TV5MONDE, Domino’s Pizza, Yves Roche. With Dareboost, which offers analysis in over 130 areas such as speed, SEO, security, you can compare your competitors and your own site with one click to quickly identify your strengths and weaknesses. The free version of Dareboost can be used for 5 reports per month.
After checking the download of the Internet site with the help of several services, you will receive detailed reports, based on which you can choose ways to speed up the site. Code optimization work should be left to programmers. But there are also very simple tips, using which you can significantly speed up your site.
The length of the html code is directly reflected in the page loading speed. The “heavier” the file is, the longer it takes to display the page correctly. Normal html code takes about 100-200 kilobytes. Code optimization involves cleaning it of various garbage (repetition of spaces and line breaks, comments, unnecessary characters).
Such services as GTMetrix, Sitechecker, Screaming Frog will help to find pages with difficult html codes. The Daruse service is optimal for converting pages, which allows you to optimize the code without disrupting its functionality. If your site runs on WordPress, popular plugins such as W3 Total Cache or Better WordPress Minify are suitable.
On any Internet site there are images that significantly reduce bandwidth. Usually, the picture accounts for up to 45% of the page size. If you want to speed up your site, you should start with image optimization.
The free Compressor tool compresses images up to 10MB both with and without loss of quality. You can achieve compression up to 90%. Kraken is a convenient service that is great for streaming image optimization. Kraken allows you to process multiple images at once right on the page by entering the url. As a result, you will receive a ready-made archive with compressed images.
You can achieve better quality with minimal weight by using formats such as WebP or JPEG-XR. This technology has one significant drawback: the format is not supported by many browsers, and search engines do not always index images.
Delayed image loading technology allows you to delay displaying images until the user scrolls to them. The method significantly speeds up the site and improves its performance. For WordPress sites, you can use a plugin like A3 Lazy Load. The technology is suitable not only for images, but also for videos and other elements.
Various plugins can be installed on any site to increase its functionality. But too many plugins slow down the resource by constantly sending requests to the database. Therefore, you should disable unnecessary plugins, leaving only the most important ones. If you need all plugins, use hosting with increased amount of dedicated resources.
When configuring the caching function, previously downloaded pages are stored in the browser. Therefore, during their repeated visit, the information is loaded locally from the cache without the need to send a repeated request to the database, which allows you to minimize the server’s work and significantly increase the download speed.
GZIP compression is a technology that caches pages directly on the server. Allows you to minimize the data sent to the user by the server up to 50-70%. For GZIP compression, you can use special plugins, edit .htaccess, cPanel. GZIP caching method speeds up page loading, but loads the central server, so it is suitable for hosting with a large amount of hardware resources.
Mobile First Indexing technology assumes that mobile versions are given priority when ranking sites. Therefore, mobile seo is of primary importance, for which page loading speed is especially important. That is why the setting of AMP pages, which link to the main ones, plays the most important role.
Yandex technologies make it possible to create lightweight pages that take 10-15 times less time to load. Turbo versions are available for both mobile versions and desktop browsers. They are marked with a rocket icon in the search bar. Turbo pages load with phenomenal speed even in case of unstable internet, significantly improving the site’s ranking in search engines, improving behavioral factors and contributing to the growth of conversion.
CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) are specifically designed to address performance and site speed issues. The CDN network connects servers with special software located around the world. The system caches sites and stores information. When sending a request, the client receives a response from the server closest to it. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the speed of loading pages. The system is optimally suited for companies focused on a global audience.
Video content is a useful advertising tool that motivates target visitors. But storing files on personal servers negatively affects the speed of downloading content. If users are watching videos simultaneously on servers with limited bandwidth, the video may slow down. Therefore, it is better to download and save files on third-party video hosting, for example, YouTube, and simply insert a link on the page.
The influence of loading time on the success of the project is not in doubt. Even if you create an attractive design and high-quality content, you will not be able to achieve your goals at a low speed. Standard acceleration measures include converting html codes, reducing the size of images, configuring the cache, implementing turbo and AMP pages, as well as other effective ways to speed up the site. You should also not forget about reliable hosting. Try to check page loading speed regularly. This will make it possible to constantly maintain the workability of the project and take timely measures to accelerate it.
