In a world where we expect instant access to the internet and where your site is competing with funny cat videos on You-Tube, Instagram and clickbait about recent celebrity scandals, having a fast website matters.

Remember if you have a slow website then the chances are your potential customer will get frustrated and click off.  They might never even see your services even though you could have been just what they were looking for.

If you are not sure how fast your page is loading then be sure to check your speed using a service such as Google’s Page Speed Insights tool. Remember Google takes into account page speed when determining SEO rankings.

Here are 3 ways to speed up a slow website.

1. Upgrade Your Hosting Server

It may be that when you first started your business you were not anticipating the traffic that it now gets. This is a good result but in order for that traffic to turn into clicks and then sales, you must upgrade the package with your hosting server.

This can mean investing more money but it will be invaluable in the long run. Remember it might there are better packages around other than the hosting company you use at the moment so be sure to shop around.

If you’ve been with your current provider for a while and do not want to change over be sure to ring them up and ask them if they can give you a better deal than what they advertise or if they can match what their rivals are offering.

2. Avoid Large Images – Compress Them

Large images take up a huge amount of space on the internet because of their file size. But there is rarely a need for the largest image on a site. Instead, you can compress the image and reduce the size so as not to spoil the quality.

The reader of the website can then have the choice to click on the image to see it full size, knowing that it will take longer to load.

The same goes for videos – which are better as thumbnail links to the video hosting sites such as You-Tube.  Remember you can always hire an expert to design your website for you who will act like a website guide and ensure that it is the right size as well as being simple but effective.

Google is the world’s most popular website but it is simply two components: a logo and a box in the middle of the screen.

3. Enable the Ability to Cache

When a visitor return to a website on multiple occasions the website can be saved in their cache – a kind of short term memory – so that it opens more quickly.

By enabling this feature you can ensure that regular visitors to your website are rewarded with a faster experience. Always remember fast-loading sites are more likely to lead to sales and clicks.

Fixing A Slow Website Is Just Common Sense

Most of the issues associated with a slow website are not technical but are quite simple in principle. if you are getting increased or more than expected traffic to your website then you need to upgrade your hosting server to account for this.

Be sure to use only the smallest file sizes if possible without affecting the quality and to give viewers the option of opening the full file by right-clicking.

If you are interested in our website design and hosting solution be sure to check out our services.