We live in a society where everything has to be fast, faster, fastest. So does the speed of websites. Not only because this is pleasant for the person who scrolls on the website, but also for the success of your company. Curious why website speed is so important for your business? Then read on!
Slow website? Then you lose potential customers
The speed of your website has a big influence on SEO. For this reason, optimizing speed is one of the most important trends you can follow. Users expect a website to be fast, especially as we become more and more digital and expect service that comes directly and flawlessly. Does loading the website take too long? Then chances are you'll lose the user. Not investing in a fast-acting website literally means you don't care about your potential customers. So remember, a much faster competitor is just one click away from you. So make sure your website runs at full speed and revs!
Fast websites are more user-friendly. No one wants to waste time on slow-loading websites. Several studies show that there is a link between website speed and conversion rate: the faster the website, the higher the conversion rate. For example, research by an AI healthcare software company showed that a web page that loaded in 2.4 seconds had a conversion rate of 1.9. At only +0.9 seconds (3.3) this had already dropped to 1.5, at another +0.9 seconds (4.2) this was 1 (i.e., one-third less conversion!) and at another +1.5 seconds (5.7) this was 0.6. At just over a double loading time, the conversion rate was more than 3 times as low! (source: Cloudfare)
The importance of mobile speed
Another important detail that should not be overlooked is mobile speed. In 2016, Google announced that it would place more value on mobile versions of a website. Mobile speed is part of this. Here are some key figures on mobile speed:
- Google recommends keeping the mobile load time below 2 seconds, but preferably within seconds (source: Frankwatching).
- More than half of users (53) tend to leave the website when loading takes longer than 3 seconds (source: Marketingdrive). We also wrote about this before in this blog about trends in web development.
- But... Research shows that the 10 largest websites in the Netherlands load on average within 4.8 seconds - far too long! Only Bol.com and Dumpert.nl stay below 2 seconds (with 1.36 and 1.6 seconds respectively) (source: Frankwatching).
- If your mobile website is fast, you will be rewarded. Research has shown that fast websites (5 seconds) have a bounce rate that is up to 35 lower and the average session duration is 70 longer than slow loading websites (19 seconds) (source: Marketing Drive). How do you do this? Read our previous blog about website speed.
The link between website speed and SEO
In the previous paragraphs, we associated the website speed with the conversion rate. In addition, however, the website speed also has a significant impact on your SEO score. In 2010, Google indicated that it would include 'site speed' in the overall SEO score. Since Google is constantly changing the algorithm, it is impossible to express the importance in numbers. This is subject to change. However, we can say that the influence is considerable, as Google itself has developed a number of tools to measure website speed.
How fast is your website?
A good tool to measure the speed of your website is Google PageSpeed Insights. The tool measures your website on a number of points and thus gives you a concrete overview with positive and negative points. You get a final score of 0 to 100 where everything under 50 is insufficient, between 50-89 on average and anything above 90 good. You get separate results for your mobile or desktop website.
Another useful tool from Google is'Think with Google',where you can compare your mobile speed with the rest of the Netherlands. You will then see how quickly your mobile website loads and how you score compared to the rest. At the bottom of the page you will receive personalized advice. For example, if your website scores pretty quickly, you will be suggested to compare your website speed with your competitors. If there is still much to be gained, you can fill in a custom URL to see which pages will delay your website. You can also request a free report.
How do you increase the speed of your website?
But how do you optimize the speed of your website? This is done by limiting the number of plugins. But also by avoiding Javascript as much as possible. Are you curious how exactly you are doing this and can you use some tips?
Then read our blog 'So easy (and important) it is to make your website faster'.
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