Why Is It Important To Have A Fast Website?

In today’s world of business, it is very important to have a fast website. Without speed, your website will be slow, provide a negative user experience and likely lose money by missing out on potential sales.

For example, on average, a 1-second delay in load time can result in a 10% loss of conversions. Others have put that number closer to 14%. Getting your site optimized for speed will also give you an edge over the competition.

There are many reasons why speed is an important issue for users. What are they? How important are they? We discuss…

IMAGE: UNSPLASH

1. User-Experience

Having a slow website will reduce your users’ satisfaction with your website. In fact, when people have to wait more than 3 seconds for a page to load, 40% of them will not wait and leave, with 79% of users saying they will not buy from you if dissatisfied with your site performance. Therefore, if you want to keep and reach more users, you need your website to be faster.

Performance is about user experience. It’s the speed at which the user can work with their tasks. Users who are dissatisfied with site performance reduce revenue or leave your website completely, increasing customer acquisition costs.

2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search engines are changing their algorithms to give faster websites a better ranking. Google, for example, is now using site speed as a factor in calculating search rankings. Moreover, Bing also analyze site speed as an element of its ranking algorithm. Google’s site speed is affected by many factors such as image size, page weight and number of requests.

If you increase the speed of your website, you have a better chance of being on the top organic search results, increasing your traffic, your revenue, and your profits.

3. More Website Conversions

Having a fast website can also increase your conversion rate. For example, if you have a webpage that takes 7 seconds to load and another of the same page that takes 2 seconds to load, over 40% of people will leave before seeing the content on the slower one. Therefore, it is important for companies to improve their site’s speed and performance so that people do not leave the site and conversion rates increase.

Performance is about improving conversions. Studies have shown that a 1-second delay in page load time can mean 11% fewer visitors, 7% less engagement, and 10% decrease in conversions. When a site experiences problems, users turn to competitors. 47% of online shoppers who encounter site performance issues will go to a competitor’s website.

4. Customer Retention

Having a slow website will reduce the chance that your clients decide to return and buy from you again. People are more likely to leave if they go to one of your pages and it is slow, which means they will not come back until you improve the site or worse, not at all.

Further studies have shown that 80% of people will not recommend your website if it is slow and customers who experience a delay are 2X more likely to leave your site than customers who experience no delay.

The bottom line is that if you have a slow website, your traffic and, thus, revenue will decrease. Customers expect fast performance and dislike waiting for pages to load. Performance is about retaining users. It’s the speed at which a site takes in and converts new people.

Users who are dissatisfied with site performance reduce revenue or leave your website completely, increasing customer acquisition costs.

5. Less Bounce Rate, More Traffic

Having a slow website will increase your bounce rate. People are less likely to leave when they come to your site if it is fast, therefore you need to have good user experience so that people stay on your page longer and engage more with your website.

Keeping users on your site longer means more opportunities for them to click on other links within your site. If your site performs well, it means that people are less likely to leave without looking through the rest of your site and increases your chances of converting it into a sale.

Having a low bounce rate is also a ranking signal used by search engines. Therefore, including and improving performance and user experience will help your website rank higher in search engine results.

6. Better Usability For Mobile Traffic

If your website is not mobile-friendly, people will leave because it does not meet their needs. People are more likely to go somewhere else if they have problems with the site. This means that companies need to improve themselves so that visitors do not get frustrated and stay on their page longer. Mobile users are 55% more likely than non-mobile users to leave your site.

Therefore, it is important to have a fast website that is also mobile-friendly so that people stay on your website longer and do not get frustrated by their experience. Mobile traffic now accounts for more than half of all users, hence its importance.

Reports have shown that people who visit websites with poor mobile performance are 77% less likely to buy from the same site again.

7. Scalability

Having a fast and scalable website is important because it will be able to grow with your business. Having a slow website can reduce the rate at which new users visit and you will not be able to accommodate them or serve their queries or needs if your site is not good enough. If you have a fast website, it will be able to grow with your company and align it with customer demands.

Having a flexible and fast website is even more important for ecommerce sites because they are constantly growing and changing as new products are added to their inventory. By having fast web pages, companies are reducing costs incurred from fixing downtime on slow websites and low CTR (click-through rates).

8. Credibility

Having a fast website increases credibility. A slow website will make people think that your business is not good and that you do not value their needs or time. Therefore, if you have a fast website then it will be easier to retain customers because they will have a pleasant experience on your site. This could lead them to spend more money because they feel comfortable with your site.

People are more likely to spend money when they do not feel frustrated by their website. This is why it is important to have a fast website in order for people to keep coming back and spending on the services or products that you provide.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH

If you are interested in even more technology-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.