Today we are going to talk about something very important because this is something that should concern not only web designers and developers but it should also concern someone remotely related to any website.
So, if you are someone who owns a brand and has a website where you do eCommerce then this is a topic of great importance for you.
This is because today we are going to talk about the impact of website load time on conversion rates. We will talk about how website speed affects conversion rates, which is basically if the speed of a website makes customers leave the website.
We will also talk about how website performance affects conversions. This is because website load time is something of very high importance because it deals with human psychology.
It is just like standing in a line at a fast food joint because if you have to stand a long time it does not make sense to stay in that line and just move on to the next fast food joint.
So, we will talk about page load speed and how it relates to conversion rates but most importantly how all of these factors decide the human user experience (UX).
Here Is Why Website Load Speed Is Important
If you ask what is the direct relation between website load speed and conversion rate then we would simply say that the faster the website the better the conversion.
This is in fact proven through a lot of studies that have found a direct relation between website loading speed and conversion rate.
This simply has to do with the user experience because users just do not like to wait. Users like quick and easy service which is only possible if there is little loading time when they open the website.
You can check out this study by Cloudflare to get an in-depth analysis of how website loading speed and loading time affects conversion rates.
But if we have to break that down into its elements then these are going to be the reasons why people have a high bounce rate if the website is taking too long to load.
A Very Saturated Marke
One of the most important reasons why people simply do not stay on a website that is taking too much time to load has to do with the market conditions.
We are flooded with choice which means you are going to get at least 10 brands for a single product no matter how rare it is.
And 9 times out of 10 the prices of those products are also going to be the same on different websites.
This means it simply does not make sense for the user to stay on a single site and buy it from that site.
This is because it simply does not make sense to have brand loyalty for something that is being manufactured in China.
So, in such a saturated market, we cannot expect consumers to wait for the website to load.
A Fast Website Is Standard
The second reason is simply that website speed optimisation is something very common and having a fast-loading website is normal.
This means if you have a slow-loading website then it is going to be something rare in this market where every website is fast.
That also means that users are habituated to fast-loading websites and they simply do not expect or have the patience to wait for slow websites.
It is like paying for candy with cash at a convenience store instead of pulling out your credit card. It simply does not make sense to wait that long.
Every website out there tries to optimise their loading times because they understand page load impacts on the user experience of customers.
That is why if you do not do website speed optimisation then you simply cannot expect people to stay and even return to your website.
User Experience Is the Answer
If you have to explain this to someone who is not into websites or even if you want to understand this concept in 1 second then it is going to be user experience.
User experience is the primary reason why companies spend thousands of dollars on conversion rate optimisation.
User experience is the reason why people do not stay on slow-loading websites.
This is simply because slow-loading websites are annoying and it is not a very good experience for the user as they have to wait for the website to load.
This is the simplest puzzle of human psychology because if people do not have a good experience with something then they do not want to have that experience again.
And that is your answer to why website speed means everything for conversion rates. Because converting the user into a client is further down the line and if you cannot even make them stay then you can forget conversion.
This chart will help you understand how the conversion rate works with page speed.
| Pagespeed | Conversion rate |
| 2.4 seconds | 1.9% conversion rate |
| 3.3 seconds | 1.5% conversion rate |
| 4.2 seconds | <1% conversion rate |
| 5.7 seconds + | < 0.6% conversion rate |
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Website loading time is actually one of the ranking factors for search engines. This is a ranking factor because it deals with user experience.
You must understand that search engines only rank websites that are the most helpful for users which also means they only give good ranks to websites that are pleasing to users.
This means if you want to get a good rank on your website then website loading time optimisation should be at the top of your list.
You might have a good website with a lot of content and relevant information but your ranking still can’t be good without a fast-loading website.
However, you do not into worry because the best thing about this is that it is one of the simplest Search Engine Optimisations (SEO) out there.
We will help you understand how you can improve your website loading speed because the advantages of doing this are really beneficial.
Here Is How You Can Improve Your Website Loading Speed
Fix Your JavaScript Timing
Never forget the JavaScript .js includes when you are at the end of the page and also make sure to load them in an asynchronous way. You should also make sure to defer them.
Along with that, you need to make sure things like default execution are used so that you can fire the JavaScript even after the entire page is done loading.
We do not want to go into detail about this simply because this is best left to the developers that you hire.
They will understand how to best optimise JavaScript timing so that there is no delay in script loading.
But you can completely avoid using heavy scripts like Java if you want and you should contact your UX designer and developer because that is going to improve your website loading time.
Use Smaller Images
If you want to know how to improve your loading time of the website then all you need to do is to make sure the image size is small.
This is because there is no need to have full-resolution images if you want to display that image in a small-sized area.
But if you decide to use the highest resolution possible then it will not provide you any kind of real benefit.
It will take up a lot of bandwidth and the loading time will be completely downgraded.
And if your website is not a picture-focused website for photographers or something like that then you do not need to worry about pictures.
You can just compress them as much as you like so far as the image is legible and has reasonable quality and you should be good.
Remove Unnecessary Plugins
Plugins might be very important and you might want the best kind of functionality but that is not the case in terms of practicality.
You should do a survey and look at the data in order to find out which plugins are being used the most because regular users are not going to utilise every kind of functionality on your website.
That is why you should make the choice between keeping the most necessary plugins and removing the unnecessary plugins.
This will not affect the user experience but will dramatically improve the website loading speed and thereby ensuring better conversion rates.
Make Sure to Use ETags And Expires Headers
You do not want the browser to keep on making requests to the server. You do not want constant checking of files and especially those files that never really change.
That is exactly why you should enable these settings because they will help stop the unnecessary number of requests to the server.
You do not need the browser to check for files such as the logo and things like that never really get changed.
That is why enabling these two options will be very beneficial to you.
Apart from these steps, you should also consider using a good quality hosting provider and if you can then you should utilise a CDN.
But most importantly you must make sure that you keep an eye on the performance of your website from time to time and make regular optimisations.
If you feel like this is too much work and it is too specialised then you are correct and that is exactly why we are here to help you.
We are Think To Share IT Solutions and we are one of the most trusted web design and development companies in India. We create websites and optimise websites and make your site rank which means we provide nearly every kind of website and IT-related service.
We welcome you to visit our website and check out everything we do.
Common Conversion Rate FAQ
Other factors affecting conversion rate?
There are a lot of other factors behind conversion rates and it can be something like the quality of the content that you offer because if you have bad content then it will have a bad effect on the conversion rate.
Then there is the entire look and feel of the website because if your website doesn’t look professional then it is not going to convince users to become buyers.
Brand imaging is also important and even when it comes to the call-to-action buttons.
Basically, every factor that will help the users and give them a good experience is going to improve the conversion rate.
How does slow website performance affect conversion rates?
This is very easy to understand and it is one of the simplest concepts to grasp. This is because a slow website performance only means a bad experience for the users.
When you have a slow website, it will cause inconvenience to the users and it will reduce their engagement.
It might also lead to trust issues because they might not trust a website that is not fast and responsive.
It will have an impact on the brand image because it will reflect that the brand does not take the website seriously.
It all has to do with user experience. If the user has a bad experience, then they are not going to stay on the website.
Does SEO increase conversion rate?
The better you do search engine optimisation (SEO) the better you are going to see conversion rates.
This is because search engine optimisation is all about improving the user experience at its core and it is doing things that search engines approve.
Search engines approve and reward things that help users and only give good rankings to websites that try to think about user experience.
That means if you simply follow Google guidelines and try to optimise your SEO and genuinely work on your website then it will reflect in your conversion rate.
It will also have a direct impact on your website traffic because you are going to see that your website will have better rankings which will mean more traffic with a good SEO strategy.
