As a site owner, you need to know the importance of website loading speed. You don’t want to lose potential customers because of slow loading speed, right? As a visitor, you want immediate results. The thought of having to wait for a website to load is very frustrating.
According to research by Akamai, visitors expect websites to load in 3 seconds or less. However, almost 500 e-commerce websites have a load time of approximately 10 seconds.
This leads to frustration and abandonment of carts, further leading to loss of revenue and a poor rate of conversions.
What is a Website’s Conversion Rate?
A user usually converts when he/she takes an action that the designers of the website wanted them to take. The term ‘conversion’ has different meanings for different websites as every website has different purposes. Examples of user conversions include- a user purchasing a product by clicking the ‘buy’ option, filling out a subscription form, submitting a contact form, or answering survey questions.
Recommended Read: 3 Warning Signs That Call for an Immediate Website Makeover
If 100 people visit a website and 2 of them convert, the conversion rate of that website would be 2%.
How does your website loading speed affect sales and conversions?
Page speed can make or break your website. The faster your website loads, the better user experience it attracts. It also increases page views and reduces bounce rate.
Improves user experience:
47% of consumers expect a website to load in no more than two seconds. If you don’t let in a visitor within that timeframe, you are most probably going to lose them to your competitors’ website.
Increases visibility :
Google prioritizes its users’ needs and thus shows only the best results. Page loading speed is an important fact that is taken into consideration by Google in ranking pages. So, if you want your website to have a high ranking on search engine results page, make sure your site loads quickly.
Increases sales and conversions:
Walmart found that for every 1-second improvement in page load time, conversions increased by 2%. It might sound like a small number but if Walmart makes 10 million dollars in sales every year, a 2% increase in conversion rate would mean a $200,000 increase in revenue!
Recommended Read: 7 Instant & Ultimate Hacks to Increase e-commerce Sales
Reduce bounce Rate :
According to research, if your site loading site increases from one second to three seconds, the probability of bounce increases by 32%. All it takes is a matter of a few seconds in deciding whether your users will stay or go to a different website.
By now, you would have understood the importance of website loading speed and why you need to pay attention to it.
Conclusion
To conclude, if your website is not getting enough sales and the rate of conversion is lower than you want it to be, it is high time you check your website loading speed. Do a regular maintenance check on your website to keep your website functionality up to date and efficient. Make sure it does not take more than 4 to 5 seconds maximum for your site to load. For all we know, every second counts!
