How slow loading website is affecting your business growth?

A slow loading website can put your thriving business on a ventilator.

Slow things never survive, let alone thrive. Quickly presenting customers with your products or services boosts your business growth. That is why your website must run as fast as you want your business to grow. 

Why You Should Care About the Website Loading Speed?

Communication has improved due to fast-paced internet connections, and users expect faster results in their browsing experience. Users expect a website to load within 2 seconds. 53% say they would abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. If 100k users visit your website, 53000 will leave due to slow speed. 

53000!

Consumers visiting e-commerce websites expect a flawless experience. Otherwise, 79% of the consumers say they are less likely to buy from the same site again. Website loading speed plays a crucial role in delivering a flawless experience. 

Below are the consequences for websites if they load with a 1-second delay; 

• According to Kissmetrics, an e-commerce website making $ 100,000/day will lose $ 2.5 million a year due to a 1-second delay in page speed. 
• According to soft loft, a 1-second delay in page response results in a 7% reduction in conversions.
• According to an Amazon study, they would lose $1.6 Billion/year if their website loads with a 1-second delay. 

A slow website speed affects every metric that matters to your business. Below are the two primary ones: 

User Experience

Your website’s loading speed is the first experience of a user about your business. When users click on a website link to find the best services or products that could solve their problems and it takes more than 3 seconds to load, they will not become customers of your business. 

Remember, user experience is all about taking care of your potential customers. No one wants to buy from a business that does not care about customer experience. Huge businesses like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, etc. are built on top of excellent user experience.   

Also read The Role of User Experience in Small Business Web Design

Loss of Visibility and Revenue

When a website takes ages to load, it generates a terrible user experience that results in users clicking away from the website. In other words, the website’s bounce rate increases. The longer the load time, the higher the bounce rate. 

In case you are unfamiliar with the term “bounce rate” it is the rate at which a user leaves the website:

Search engines like Google notice the bounce rate of websites and take action by lowering the seo rank of the website in search engine result pages (SERPs). 

A lower seo rank means users see your website less frequently in the search results. Thus, limiting your business visibility to potential customers. Low traffic to your website results in fewer customers which plunges your business revenue. 

Below is the picture that visually explains how a slow-loading website affects your business:

Below are some more stats that prove how important faster page loading is:

1. The first 5 seconds have the highest impact on website conversion rates. On average, each second reduces the conversion rate up to 4.42%.
2. According to a Deloitte study, brands should prioritize website speed, especially for mobile users, to stay ahead. 
3. According to HubSpot, 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if its images take too long to load. 
4. According to Unbounce, the majority of users will give up the experience animations or videos provide to have a faster website loading speed.

Also, read how to maximize the conversion rate with the best web design practices

What causes the slowness of the website and how to fix it?

Several factors make your website slow. That is why making your website loading speed as fast as possible is necessary. Below are the causes of your slow website and recommendations to make them fast;

• Large Media Files(Images, Videos, Sliders, etc)

Large files take time to load which drives the website loading time. You can lower the load time by compressing the media files or using a content delivery network(CDN). A professional web design company always uses these tactics to make your website load faster.   

• Browser Caching

Caching allows users to access a website faster because its data is already loaded in the browser’s cache. Therefore, leveraging cache browsing could reduce the load time for recurring visitors. 

• HTTP Requests

The more requests a browser makes to load a website, the slower the website will load. Streamlining the code will reduce these HTTP requests, minimizing the website loading speed.   

• Malware or Bugs 

A website’s loading speed can be slow due to malware or bugs in the code. Routinely optimizing your website allows you to find and fix any malware or bugs making your website load faster. You can also outsource routine optimization to a professional web development company at a reasonable rate that will proficiently protect your website. 

Final Takeaway

A faster load time for your website ensures a seamless user experience, making your website navigation easier for users. Users love it when you quickly give them what they want. Thus boosting customer satisfaction, reducing the bounce rate, enhancing business visibility, and generating more customers that drive up the revenue. 

Get a free consultation from a professional web development company like Logico to efficiently optimize the website speed for better results. 

Also read how an outdated web design can cripple your business