The Relationship Between Website Speed and E-commerce Success
In this technologically advanced world, speed is everything.
Messages reach the receiver the moment you hit send. You can immediately view a photo after taking it. Breakfast can even be on the go, and instant rice is a thing now. Technology has made all these possible, and it has shortened our attention span down to a few seconds. Because of this, websites need to load in lightning speed.
Any guide to ecommerce success will highlight the importance of a website. It stands at the frontlines of your online interactions. Not only does it serve as an online shop, but it also enforces your company’s branding. This is why building an ecommerce website requires a look into rules, technicalities, and even psychological tricks. However, none of these will reach the consumers if the website is slow.
Why speed matters
Website speed can set the stage for the success of your business. It is one of the factors that create the first impression on potential clients. Think of it as their first encounter to customer experience. If your website speed is slow, they’ll never get to see anything—even when you have the best-designed web pages ever.
These are what a fast-loading website can bring to the table:
- Increased conversions
Forty-seven percent of people want your website to load faster than two seconds. If your website takes more than three seconds to load, 40% of people will not think twice to close the tab. Based on these numbers, a slow website drives away traffic and repels conversions. It will be detrimental to your business, brand, or blog in the long run.
- Improved customer experience
A fast website speed leads to a pleasant experience for consumers. It’ll motivate them to browse the website and search for more items until they finally check out.
According to Google, 92% of consumers accomplish their goals in websites that load quickly. Ninety-five percent of these consumers report that they would come back. Retail order value also rose by 9.2%, and retail sites saw an 8.4% increase in conversion rates after a 0.1-second improvement in website speed.
This improvement in customer experience via an optimized website speed compels customers to recommend your business to their peers. Remember that customer satisfaction opens the possibilities of repeat purchases. Through this, you can build better customer relations as well as gain their loyalty.
- Better search ranking
The internet knows that people need things fast. Google doesn’t deny this. To keep the internet fast, accessible, and an effective marketplace of ideas, Google has made website speed a search ranking factor. This has been the case for Google since 2010.
Even though it doesn’t hold as much gravity as site relevance, website speed determines if your latest post deserves a spot. This is because Google wants people to have a positive online experience each time, all the time. Search engines don’t want anyone looking for answers to be faced by a never-ending circle.
If you want to nudge your search ranking, pay attention to your website speed. The combination of speed and good SEO practice could land you on that glorious page one of the search results.
Mobile vs. Desktop
A web page takes an average of 10.3 seconds to load on a desktop, but 27.3 seconds on mobile. Additionally, the time it takes from connecting to a server to downloading the first byte of data—or Time to First Byte (TTFB)—is longer on mobile than on desktop. The former takes 2.594 seconds, and the latter only takes 1.286 seconds.
Technological advancement has paved the way for the production of gadgets of different sizes. There’s the smartphone, tablet, and desktop. You can also include a smartwatch on the list if you want. Nevertheless, a responsive and adaptive website caters to varying screen sizes nowadays. Designing the website to be fast on both mobile and desktop devices can improve customer experience.
How to improve website speed
Several factors affect website speed. For starters, using a suitable CMS will improve the speed of your website. Some of the best desktop options include Squarespace and Weebly. On the other hand, Adobe Experience Manager and Weebly are close competition for the second spot on mobile.
Choosing the right web host, especially for e-commerce, helps control traffic spikes, offers extensive data, and handle media. The web host should be reliable to ensure the server runs smoothly. It should also be flexible to allow maximum customization and control on your part.
One metric in telling website speed is page weight, which means a website with many images will take more time to load. Consider compressing your images to lower their file sizes. Use PNG for graphics, JPEG for photos, and GIF for animated images.
Tools to test website speed
Luckily, free tools are available to test website speed. Here are some trustworthy and free tools you can try:
Pay close attention to your website speed
Website speed is crucial to retaining customers and encouraging potential customers to support your brand. It increases conversion rates and order value. It also gives customers a pleasant experience, free from waiting and wasting their time. Google recognizes these benefits and rewards your site with a better search ranking.
Always choose a suitable CMS. In this area, Squarespace is leading. Next, pick a reliable and flexible web host that is fit for your needs.
Technicalities aside, think about the media on your page. The bigger the size of your media, the longer the page will load. To solve this problem, convert your images to designated file formats for every type.
