How to lighten your load

Why is load time so important to a web page? Well here are the main reasons...

1. You could have guessed that Google would be in here somewhere. Google (and other search engines) just love a good, fast loading web page. They have always loved clean code but seem to have developed a bit of an obsession with load times lately.
2. Visitors just don’t hang around. If a page doesn’t load in under 2 seconds you can expect to lose traffic. This is especially true of e-commerce sites; if the buying process is taking too long, the sale is abandoned.
3. 30% of website traffic now comes from mobile. Think about that... When you’re out and about and can’t rely on wifi, you still want to access information quickly. If it doesn't load, off you go.

What are the reasons for slow load times?

1. Poorly or non-optimised images
2. Widget or plugin overload
3. Bulky code
4. Quite a few off-the-shelf themes
5. External embedded media like videos or slideshows are ones to look out for

Put your website to the test: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

If your website is losing traffic because of poor download speeds, talk to Wots the Big Idea. Call us on 01536 560 435 or email [email protected]