First off, what do we mean by ‘website speeds’ and ‘conversion rates’? Put simply, website speeds are the length of time it takes for a page to load once a user has clicked to be directed to it.
Slow website speeds can have a knock-on effect on your conversion rates, by which I mean the number of visitors who successfully complete the desired action – be that completing an online purchase or clicking to subscribe to a newsletter.
A slow website can lower the number of page views you get, which in turn can lead to lower sales and a negative customer experience. If customers are put off your site by pages taking too long to load, they’re not likely to complete the desired action, may abandon their online trolley and may post negative reviews which seriously hurt your brand reputation.
The Lowdown On Low Conversion Rates
What do you do if it takes too long for a site to load? Simple. You jump ship and go elsewhere. As a business owner, if your site is slow then you’re missing out on valuable customer interaction. A delay of just one second has been found to lead to 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7% drop in conversion rates.
All this adds up, and the majority of customers say they wouldn’t give a website a second chance if they’d had a poor experience the first time around. You can’t afford to have a slow website if you want your business to prosper in the digital age.
What Can You Do?
You can easily check your website speed by using the Google PageSpeeds Insight tool. If your website needs improvement then it’s time to bring in the experts.
Speeding your site up will have a massive positive impact on your business and online conversion rates. Studies have found that an improved website can lead to an 88% improvement in customer satisfaction, IT labour costs reduced fourfold and a doubling in your brand’s good reputation. Happy customers are bigger spenders, so fewer of them will abandon their online trolley and more will successfully complete their purchases.
Nobody likes sluggish internet pages, and the impact of a slow website can be catastrophic for a business. Don’t lose out – get help from the pros to improve your website, and you’ll soon see the difference in numbers.
