Whatever the reason for a slow loading web page, the consequences are always the same. The user experience is immediately tainted, and a vast majority of visitors will make a mental note to avoid this site in the future, which effectively closes the door. Not only that, Google announced as far back as 2010 that their search engine algorithms will look into sites with slow pages, which merely adds to the serious damage elements that slow page loading brings. There are a number of causes for slow page loading speed, and here are a few of the more common reasons why a website takes too long to respond.
- Inefficient Hosting – The host server might not have the necessary oomph to deliver rich media content, and with most web hosting companies, there are a range of packages, and like anything else, you only get what you pay for. If your business is relatively new, and you have taken out the bottom line web hosting package, consider an upgrade, as that will certainly speed things up. There are plenty of interesting articles that examine what makes for an efficient web hosting service and discuss the importance of good web hosting.
- External Media – Let’s imagine you have a few YouTube videos on your site, which might be tutorials or possibly product reviews. This will seriously affect your page load time. The solutions for this is to upload the videos to your own server, which will dramatically increase the page speed.
- Large Images – If your site is packed with high resolution JPEG images, this could have an effect on your page loading time. Certain formats, such as PNG, will speed up page loading, as they are smaller in size, yet no image quality is lost. A lack of compression might be the reason, as could long comments attached to the images, and if you really want fast page loading, you should enlist the help of digital experts.
- Browser Compatibility – You e-commerce site might load very well with one browser, but as these surfing tools do not operate the same way, your site needs to be optimized for all the major web browsers. This is something a digital marketing company would handle, along with many other essential tweaking services to ensure that you get maximum exposure with the search engines, while also exploring other digital avenues that will drive traffic to your website.
- Cut Down on the Ads – Ads might generate a little extra income, but when you factor in the slow page loading time, it ends up as a negative aspect of your website. The average speed for an e-commerce site to fully load is around 7 seconds, but with the help of the right experts, that can be halved, which enriches the buying experience, and that is what digital marketing is all about. Any unnecessary graphics should also be removed, as these merely add to the time it takes for a page to load, and research suggests that fast loading sites are much preferred by the consumer.
Page loading has become a major ingredient to a successful online campaign, and with the assistance of digital experts, your customers will really enjoy the smooth buying experience. There are online digital marketing companies that can turn any e-commerce site from an also ran to a winner.
Jay Jay Ghatt is also editor at Techyaya.com, founder of the JayJayGhatt.com and JayJayGhatt.com where she teaches online creators how to navigate digital entrepreneurship and offers Do-It-For-You Blogging Service. She manages her lifestyle sites BellyitchBlog, Jenebaspeaks and JJBraids.com and is the founder of BlackWomenTech.com 200 Black Women in Tech On Twitter. Her biz podcast 10 Minute Podcast is available on iTunes and Player.fm. Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks. Buy her templates over at her legal and business templates on Etsy shop!
