Why is Website Performance Important for Online Businesses?

Your web is the site where most individuals will connect with your business. Your digital marketing processes will most probably send customers to your website. It might be to get information concerning your products and services, obtain contact information, or make purchases.

Website performance, also known as web optimization, is a fancy term that refers to website speed. Optimization of the download speed of your website components, such as landing pages, can hugely impact your users. On the contrary, failing to consider the rate at which your site displays elements on the user's browser: will hurt your website. 

Why your web performance depends on website hosting

Your web hosting provider and the sort of plan you use can have an enormous effect on your site’s performance. The majority of small enterprise owners opt to sign up for a shared hosting plan. Reason being that this plan is easy to use, and it's also affordable. That's completely okay if you expect no more than 1,000 visitors on your site per day.

But if you own a booming business with a lot of traffic, a shared hosting plan is not the best. It has restricted bandwidth and RAM that can cause the website's performance to suffer. Besides, users will also have a bad experience. 

With a dedicated hosting plan, however, the bandwidth and the RAM are unlimited. Therefore, the server will operate at high speed since it's not jammed trying to respond to a thousand different requests.  

If you can’t afford a dedicated server, don’t worry, InterServer web hosting offers beneficial solutions, so here you can check different plans that will fit your budget. For instance, a virtual private server (VPS) offers an expense pretty much that of a shared hosting plan with several benefits of a dedicated hosting plan. Most significantly, your site is guaranteed a specific percentage of all the resources. 

Why slow hosting service’s speed leads to poor user experience

There are numerous great reasons why optimizing a hosting service to improve performance is essential for websites. When customers surf your site and load some webpages, they are opening files from the web server. If the web server is fast, the web pages will load quickly. But if the server delays in processing the request, then the webpage loading speed slows down.  

If the website is too slow to load completely, the visitors will lose interest in continuing with the site. They will shift to another website, which is loading much more rapidly than your site. 

It would be best if you didn't ignore this as it can destroy your website's online reputation. The effect may continue even after you've optimized your website for performance. This continuity is because users can recall their poor experience while surfing your site and may be reluctant to revisit it.

Factors that affect a hosting service speed

How do you choose a web hosting plan that will aid in enhancing your website's download speed? Two major factors affect the site's speed and performance.  

• Hard drive

A hosting package with a solid-state hard drive is going to offer a quick and credible service. The result is a shorter webpage load time and rapid performance.

• Resources

A hosting plan with more bandwidth and RAM will offer more speed and power to your site. It will also prevent other websites from affecting your site’s performance.

The significance of testing web performance 

In regards to creating a good site for your business, there are many factors to consider.  You must examine your content, search engine optimization (SEO), the overall web design, and many more. What’s most significant is your website performance plus performance test tools that ascertain if your website is a success.  

Why is web performance the most significant factor? It appears that users will wait for 3 seconds for a website to load before moving to another site. The load time difference of half a second is enough to cause a sales difference of 10% for an online business.

Importance of web performance optimization

Customers expect speed, convenience, and functionality. When you offer an optimized website to them, you'll notice an increase in user loyalty, customer satisfaction, and higher Google rankings.

Increased user loyalty

Most users are guilty of trying to load a site. But because of the slow download speed, they quickly click the back arrow and exit. These people may either lack patience or might be very busy, and therefore, can't wait for your website to load.  Nonetheless, the impact is just the same.

The bounce rate will drastically increase when your website's load time on the computer or mobile is long. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who visit your site but immediately navigate away after viewing one page.

Improved Google rankings

Since a while load time has become another of Google’s determinant factors in search rankings. Other factors contribute to high ranking positions, which all web owners yearn to have. However, improving your website load time is now an effective way to go up on the list.

When your website ranks high on Google, it will increase traffic, leading to more customers.

Google rewards all web performance that aids visitors to find the content they are searching for quickly. If you're a webmaster who yearns for higher rankings, optimizing website performance is the key to getting where you desire.  

Customer satisfaction

When you combine a visually attractive website and web speed, your customers will be happy and engaged. Satisfied customers will, in turn, result in higher sales and more conversions.

You will satisfy your customers by either meeting or exceeding their expectations. Therefore, you should exactly know your user’s expectations as regards to your website performance. 

Earlier on, the maximum standard load time was about 10 seconds. Visitors would even accept a 7 seconds load time. But with the modern network speed and quick optimization of technology, websites are expected to load within 2 seconds. 

Also, don't forget to satisfy your mobile customer's expectations. Sometimes, mobile users are more forgiving when your website has a lengthy load time. Reason being that they realize their mobiles have slower internet connections.

With advanced technology, their internet speeds are becoming better, and so your mobile performance. Website designers should generate a streamlined mobile version of your web pages containing fewer pictures to evade overloading servers.

Improving website performance is vital for keeping your customers happy and steering business growth. Ensure you choose a hosting provider who can guarantee a high level of performance. 

Janeth Kent

Licenciada en Bellas Artes y programadora por pasión. Cuando tengo un rato retoco fotos, edito vídeos y diseño cosas. El resto del tiempo escribo en MA-NO WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT.