Did you know your website’s speed might be the difference between getting a high Google ranking or not? Google’s algorithm looks at how quickly a page loads and the quickness of the loading time ( or lack thereof ) is a key factor in your Google rank. In fact, according to Google research 50% of web visitors anticipate a website they visit to load in less than 2 seconds! The speed of your loading time can also be the difference between keeping visitors on your site and losing them to the next site.
Tips for improving website load speed include simplifying your website by adding fewer images and scripts to each page. If you already do have photos and images you can’t live without, then use Photoshop to compress the images. You should also make sure your images are using the .jpg or .gif standard instead of the .png standard. Your SEO should be able to offer you advice on this topic.
You ( or your website developer ) can also use Gzip software to compress your website’s html, CSS and JavaScript files that are over 150 bytes. In addition, you can also advise your web designer to reduce redirects and leverage browser caching, two technical ways in which to improve website speed. Your web designer should be open to suggestions you make and should be more than happy to try to improve your website speed.
Doing some or all of these things will help improve your website’s load time, the user experience for your visitors and ultimately Google’s ranking of your website.
If you would like an evaluation of your website’s load time / speed, feel free to contact us at our Delray Beach, Florida offices.
