Make your website faster by optimising loading times, reducing file sizes and improving the user experience to boost both SEO and conversions.
Thomas Haurum
Is there anything more frustrating than landing on a painfully slow website as a user? No, probably not.
Our patience is limited when we are searching for information or products online. If we land on a website that loads slowly, we simply move on to the next one in line.
Poor speed brings nothing but trouble. It creates a bad experience for the user and, therefore, for you as the website owner. You risk losing potential orders, and Google notes that users are quickly leaving your site.
So how do you prevent this from happening? The answer is to place greater emphasis on speed optimisation.
Speed optimisation is a complex discipline that involves both theoretical knowledge and technical expertise. But why is there so much focus on it right now?
As Google adjusts its algorithm to deliver better results for its users, speed optimisation has gradually taken on a more prominent role. Recently, Google announced that your website’s speed is now a direct ranking factor. Will you be penalised for neglecting your website’s speed? – All signs point to yes.
Beyond just catering to Google’s algorithm, speed has an even more immediate function: pleasing your users. Studies show you win or lose your users in the very first second. The consequences of a website with more than one second of ‘wait time’ are at least the following:
It really is quite simple. Load speed affects the overall user experience, your conversion rate, and ultimately your bottom line.
In other words, there are no excuses. Get your hands out of your pockets and do something about your speed! It is a must if you have any ambitions for your digital presence.
In this post, I will highlight the lowest hanging fruit that forms the foundation for a fast site.
To start, it is a good idea to find out how your website is performing. There are a wealth of tools available to analyse your website and pinpoint exactly where you should focus your efforts. Personally, I prefer GTmetrix. The tool is free, comprehensive and very user-friendly. The interface is intuitive and rates your site on a scale from 1-100. In addition to an overall score, you also get ratings for individual parameters, so you know exactly where the problem areas are.
The process for speed optimisation depends a lot on how your website is structured – and, of course, your technical ability. Most open-source CMSs give you plenty of opportunity to optimise using various plugins, saving you the cost of a developer.
If your website is like most others, there will be the usual optimisation opportunities that you can start with. Here they are.
Plugins are an excellent addition and can really enhance the appearance and functionality of your website. But! Unfortunately, I have to say that many plugins are the biggest culprits when it comes to speed optimisation. The short explanation is that the more plugins you have, the more files are called on your site. And if there is one thing that slows down your browser, it is having to dart in and out of files. In addition to the number of plugins, quality is also a factor you cannot ignore, as there is a big difference in how well-coded and compressed they are. Poor plugins are also one of the biggest security risks and can quickly cost you your website.
I therefore recommend that you choose carefully. Install only the plugins that benefit your business and leave out the ‘fancy’ gadgets.
A fundamental step is to always compress your images. There are two key aspects here: cropping (length and width) and compression (KB/MB). You need to consider both and execute them together.
Cropping
The first question is, where will you use the image? For example, if the image is to be used in a large slider, the size should match. If you are struggling to find the size of a specific image, you can do the following:
Here you can see the actual size of the image and the size at which it is displayed in its current environment (insert image).
With this information, you now know the exact dimensions to resize your image to.
Compression
Many people do not want to compromise on quality, as their products need to be presented as well as possible – which is a healthy attitude. However, it is possible to compress an image without losing quality. This means fewer bytes, but the same quality. This can be done using either lossy or lossless compression. Essentially, file sizes become smaller by reducing the number of colours in the image, so fewer bytes are needed to save it. Visually, the difference is almost invisible, but the compression has a huge effect on file size.
If your website is built in WordPress, you can use the plugin Smush Image Compression and Optimization. This plugin automatically compresses your images as you upload them. If you do not use WordPress, you can run your files through TinyPNG.com before uploading them.
Every time you reference a file, your browser sends a request to the server. When this happens, there is often a slight delay, which negatively affects your site’s speed.
Example scenario
You have been running your webshop for over 5 years, and in that time you have been recommended all sorts of clever tools designed to give you insights and increase your sales. MailChimp, SleekNote, Pixels, Analytics, Hotjar, CrazyEgg, Facebook Messenger Plugin, LinkedIn Conversion Tracking? In addition, you have a font for your body text in three different weights, one for headings, and another in italics for customer testimonials. Finally, you reference 17 different JavaScript files, each adding its own fancy effect – because what is more important than a beautiful website?
There are undoubtedly many good arguments for the above implementations. But in the end, it is your website’s speed that will suffer.
Reconsider and prioritise your requests
Is your business really dependent on all those different fonts? Or do you even use LinkedIn Conversion Tracker? Delete everything that is used frequently and does not deliver the desired effect.
Combine your CSS and JavaScript files
Instead of referencing five different JavaScript files, you can, with a clear conscience, condense everything into one file. You can either ask your developer to do this or find a plugin that will do the job for you. If your webshop is built in WordPress, I recommend Autoptimize.
You may have heard about the famous cache, but never really understood its function? Put simply, cache is a storage area that contains data from websites you have previously visited. Imagine you visit wemarket.fi for the first time. Your browser will load all JavaScript, CSS and HTML directly from the server. The second time you visit wemarket.fi, your browser has ‘cached’ all this data and stored it locally. On your next visit, your browser can retrieve the data from your storage much faster than if it had to search for and download it directly from the server.
If you do not already have caching in place, do not worry. There are plugins available for most CMSs.
Not many people are aware of this, but the version of PHP you use has a significant impact on how quickly your site is processed. This is not a change you can make from your website, but through your hosting provider (for example Unoeuro, One.com, SurfTown).
The available versions typically range from PHP 5.0 to 7.4.
Our recommendation is that you update to the latest available version. However, you should be aware that this may affect how your site is displayed.
Feel free to contact your developer to update your PHP version and to help you with all the other quick wins from this blog post. Both you and your potential customers will benefit.
Other relevant articles:
Google launches better options for split testing
Why has Google chosen to switch its index to Mobile First?
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