How Site Speed Impacts Digital Presence

How Site Speed Impacts Digital Presence

Two Seconds

That is how long you have to engage a new visitor to your website. If your site speed is not optimized, you will lose visitors before you have a chance to win them over. The greatest content in the world will be unappreciated if it is too slow to load. Visitors won’t wait for images to load or for text to appear. When they come to your site they want information to be immediately available.

Site Speed Influences Site Credibility

We live in a fast-paced world. You can order anything you want online and have it delivered, usually within two days. If your site takes longer than a second to load your visitor will, most likely, leave. One second is all you have. Site speed has a major impact on a visitor’s first impression of your brand. Slow loading sites are often viewed as unprofessional or untrustworthy. Major brands devote extensive resources to optimize their page load times and site speed.

Slow Site Speed Results In Lost Sales

Research shows that the majority of shoppers will not return to a site that is slow or unresponsive. Slow site speed is a primary contributor to perceived unresponsiveness. In addition to not returning, approximately half of those people would tell a friend about their negative experience. Even a one-second delay in site speed drops conversion rates by 7%. This drop off grows exponentially as the load times increase. Great site design is critical but site speed needs to be a consideration as well.

Site Speed Impacts SEO

Site speed impacts your ranking with all of the major search engines. Search engines fight for traffic just like other sites and prioritize their user experience. Pointing clients to fast loading, content-rich sites is the best way Google and other search engines ensure repeat visits. They emphasize your visitor’s experience when ranking your site. Repeat visitors are crucial for search engines and their site rankings are critical to a site’s visibility. Fast loading pages will be ranked higher. Slower site speed will result in lower rankings.

Site Speed Impacts Social Media

Brand awareness is critical for growth. One of the most important ways to build brand awareness and organic growth is through social media. Sites focus on creating amazing content in hopes that consumers will share the content and spread the messaging. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are focused on a rich multimedia experience. If your site provides rich, shareable content, your visitors will share it with other platforms. Social growth leads to exposure and sales. Visitors are unlikely to share images or content that is slow to load.

User Experience Is Everything

If you are not providing your visitors with the best possible experience, you will not have visitors for long. Slow site speed is frustrating to visitors and will have a negative impact on your conversion rates. Investing time in optimizing your site speed will contribute to more visitor engagement and growth. Focus on load times around one second to provide visitors with the best possible experience.