Your website's load time can have a massive impact on your conversion rates. In today's fast paced world, everyone is pressed for time. Our obsession with speed has made the majority of internet users rather impatient. Advancements in technology has made it possible for a site to load faster than ever before, and if your business wants to compete, it's essential that your load time be as short as possible. A few second difference can really effect whether your customer decides to continue browsing through your blog posts and product pages, or go somewhere else. The experts at iBoost have a lot of experience in helping clients reduce their website's load time. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help make your web pages load lightning fast.
Caching
The first time someone visits your web page, their computers must download all the page elements. However, if you enable caching, then your site's information can be stored for days, weeks or even months without violating RFC guidelines. This will help to significantly reduce the speed at which your site will load during subsequent visits.
Compression
Pages that contain high quality content may have large files associated with them. Having large files can greatly increase the amount of load time. A great way to reduce the file size on your site is to use a zip file to compress your data.
HTTP Requests
A website page often has several elements. For example, on any given site there may be stylesheets, scripts and images that require an HTTP request for each individual component. To reduce your load speed, you'll need to focus on minimizing the number of requests made for each page. The best way to achieve this is to consolidate multiple style sheets into one and reduce the number of scripts and elements.
Server Response Time
Your server response time should be less than 200 milliseconds. There is software available to help monitor your site's server response time, such as YSlow and Google's PageSpeed tools. Using these can help alert you to potential issues so you can troubleshoot any problems with less hassle.
Above the Fold
Above the fold refers to the top portion of the web page. Take advantage of the fact that most internet users will take a few seconds to scroll toward the bottom. You can make your site seem to load faster by placing larger files closer to the footer. This should decrease the number of internet browsers that might leave your site.
Images
We live in a society obsessed with imagery. If you want to have a beautiful, modern website it's often crucial to use large, high resolution images throughout your website. Unfortunately, large files can slow your load time. Try to crop images and use high quality compression technology when possible.
Plugins
Having too many plugins or widgets can really bog down your site. Sometimes, certain plugins have even been known to completely crash your site altogether. Be sure to minimize the number of plugins you use by prioritizing the benefits they provide.
Let the Experts at iBoost Reduce Your Website's Load Speed
You've put a lot of effort into creating a beautiful online space that adds value to your customer relationship, don't undermine your efforts by having a slow site that sends otherwise loyal customers elsewhere. Let the professionals at iBoost help make your site zoom past the competition. Call us today to find out how our services can help grow your business.
