In today’s Tech News Tuesday episode, we’re talking about some actionable tips and trends to help you get digital marketing results. And we’re focusing on a crucial topic for any business with an online presence — how to improve your website’s performance.
Speed Matters
If your website takes too long to load, you could be losing potential customers. A recent survey found that in 2024, the average person will wait at most eight seconds for a web page to load. But here’s the kicker — 48% of people will jump to the next site if they think yours takes too long to load.
48% of people will jump to the next site if yours takes too long to load.
Speed matters, and today we’re going to share five key ways to boost your website’s performance so you don’t lose those visitors. Let’s start with the first one: optimizing your images.
Optimize Your Images
Images are often the biggest culprit when it comes to slow load times. They’re large files, and if they’re not optimized, they can drag down your site speed. You want to reduce the resolution and dimensions of your images, and compress them to ensure they load quickly without sacrificing too much quality.
Image optimization isn’t just about making your site faster — it also improves the user experience.
Image optimization isn’t just about making your site faster — it also improves the user experience. Faster-loading images mean less waiting and a smoother browsing experience, which keeps people engaged.
Your Web Hosting Matters
Your web host plays a huge role in your site’s performance. If you’re on a slow or overloaded server, it doesn’t matter how well-optimized your site is—it’s still going to be slow. Make sure your hosting plan fits your needs, and consider the server location. The closer the server is to your audience, the faster your site will load for them.
Good hosting is like the foundation of a house. Without it, everything else crumbles.
Performant Themes Optimize for Speed
Speaking of a solid foundation, let’s talk about using a performant theme. A performant theme is lightweight and optimized for speed. When choosing a WordPress theme, look for one that’s designed with performance in mind. Features like lazy-loading images and optimized code can make a big difference in how quickly your site loads.
Evaluate your theme’s performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.
Don’t forget to evaluate your theme’s performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. These tools can help you identify bottlenecks that might be slowing down your site, whether it’s the theme itself or other elements like images and scripts.
Cache to Reduce Load Times
Caching can drastically reduce load times for visitors. Caching stores your pages in a more accessible location, speeding up the delivery of the page to your visitors. And the more traffic you have, the bigger the benefit of caching.
These steps can make a huge difference in how quickly your site loads and how well it performs. And the bottom line is this. When it comes to your website, every second counts. If your site is slow, you risk losing visitors to a competitor. So, take the time to make these improvements and keep your audience engaged.
Do you prefer to listen in? Tune in to our podcast here:
Links in this episode: How long will people wait for websites to load in 2024? Survey says…
Crop and Resize Images in Windows 10
These 7 Website Mistakes Limit Your Digital Marketing Results
