The need to increase website speed matters because existing users, as well as Google, are taking note when website pages fail to load quickly. While current users are likely to become impatient and transfer their business elsewhere, Google algorithms take this sluggish user experience into account in search rankings that attract new website visits.

This article features four tips that can work independently or collectively to support your efforts to increase website speed.

1. Optimize and reduce the size of your images

When a user sees a page on your website, the server receives an HTTP request from the browser to return the files contained on the page. Naturally, the longer it takes for a website page to load, the more files that are requested and the larger the files requested. Surely it is so important to increase website speed.

In this scenario, the first thing to ask is whether there are any unneeded photos that may be removed. It’s possible that some of the graphics that take the longest to load have no use on the page and can be removed entirely.

Once you’ve decided which photographs you want to preserve, consider whether there are any ways to make them smaller. In general, image sizes should be less than 100 KB, which is well below the megabyte (MB) threshold. While certain platforms, such as HubSpot, will compress and resize photos for you, other programmes, such as Squoosh or TinyPNG, allow you to compress images yourself.

2. Reduce the size of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML code

Similarly to how unnecessary graphics can slow down a website’s page load time, needless code can do the same. Whitespaces, letters, and duplications are frequently carried over into the code as websites are renovated and built upon. These extra bytes of data come at a cost to website page performance because they provide no value to the website.

Minifying CSS, JavaScript and HTML code is just deleting these superfluous or redundant parts from the code. While this cleaner, leaner code helps a webpage load faster by reducing the file size, it also makes it easy to integrate and consolidate your files. If you have multiple scripts running on your page, for example, you might merge them into one or two scripts, reducing the number of HTTP requests even more.

While combing through website code can be time-consuming and tedious, tools like Autoptimize make the minification process much easier which will increase website speed.

3. Reducing the number of redirects is a good idea.

When it comes to consolidating multiple related pieces of content onto a single new page or moving your website from one domain to another, 301 redirects have their place. Unnecessary redirects, on the other hand, tend to build in the background alongside these required efforts.

Redirect chains are an example of this. It’s possible that more than one redirect can be established on a website page over the course of several months, perhaps as new material becomes available or a new SEO strategy is deployed. Multiple iterations between the starting and destination URLs might make crawling webpages more complex for search engines and people will have to wait longer for online pages to load.

You may quickly find redirect chains on your website using tools like ScreamingFrog, and adjust your 301 redirects to remove any superfluous steps. ScreamingFrog can also assist you to identify and remove any website redirects that aren’t serving a purpose.

4. Enable Caching in the Browser

In a perfect world, visitors to your website will return to view the same or more website pages to learn more about your products/services, read articles, and so on. When users return, browsers can be set to remember previously loaded resources rather than having to dynamically reload logos, footers, and other elements each time.

Browser caching, which acts as a sort of memory bank, improves website page speed by allowing previously obtained replies to be reused. In other words, because items are held on the browser for a predetermined length of time, fewer HTTP requests are required for pages to load correctly.

If your cache has an expiration date set, tools like YSlow can notify you. These expiration dates are used to tell a browser whether it should request files from a server or pull them from the browser’s cache. Website files can often be stored for a year in lieu of frequent design modifications.

Improve the User Experience by Increasing the Page Speed of your Website

Putting time and effort to increase website speed and performance is just as important as the design and content on your website when it comes to the user experience. After all, if a webpage doesn’t load quickly enough, users and search engines may lose interest before they can appreciate these components.

While there are numerous technologies to aid with these efforts, we know that many businesses require the assistance of an agency to integrate these user experience objectives with other activities. With experience ranging from SEO and demand generation to content and design, we’ve got you covered. Enthof Creatives can help you with every aspect of the user experience and will continue to advise and support you as search engine dynamics and digital strategy change.

 

About the Author

Donald Gonsalves is the founder of Enthof Creatives and a regular writer for the website’s blog. He has more than 2 decades of experience in marketing, sales and branding. His need to research and learn more about these segments is never-ending. To contact him, just drop an email to donald.g@sh118.global.temp.domains

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