To create an effective website, you need to pay attention to more than just the aesthetics. You also need to make sure that it loads quickly and efficiently so your visitors aren’t turned off by a slow-loading page before they’ve even had a chance to read anything.
Your website’s website speed is one of the first things website visitors will notice. If they are unable to navigate the website easily, they may leave instead of looking around.
Web design website speed insights for website developers and website designers are an important component of web design best practices that must be considered if you want your website load time to be fast. It is important to work website speed into the website design process because website speed has an impact on website visitor satisfaction.
The website load time of your website impacts your search engine results.
In website load time studies conducted by Akamai, it was found that website visitors expect a website to load within 2 seconds or less.
Further website speed insights for website developers and website designers show the following:
- 94% of users will not return to a website if website speed is too slow.
- 40% of website visitors will attempt to find another website if website load time exceeds 4 seconds.
- 75% of users expect website load times to be fast, regardless of the industry they are in.
The following website design best practices will help you make website website speed as fast as possible:
1) Use a Content Delivery Network or CDN. A CDN is a network of servers that hosts website files all over the world so your website visitors get access to website files faster. This also reduces website load time because you’ll have several different website files uploading at once depending on where in the world the person visiting your website is located.
2) Keep website code to a minimum. Less website code means less things your website has to do, which means faster load times. This will also help improve website performance as you make changes and update your website. You can do this by combining website scripts or by removing website scripts that aren’t being used.
3) Optimize website images by using the right website format. JPEG website images are the website standard for most website types, but they can be made smaller when you use website compression software.
4) Use website caching to store website files in memory for faster access. This is especially helpful on high traffic websites where lots of people are viewing your website at once and it needs to load quickly.
5) Use website load testing software to analyze website performance. This will show you how long it takes your website to load and where website problems may lie so they can be fixed. Once the website problems have been fixed, website load times should improve.
6) Reduce website redirects. When you move website files, website redirects can be made in website code to keep website visitors on the website instead of sending them back to the website root directory or home page when they click on a link that leads to an old webpage address. Redirecting website visitors to new webpage addresses makes their website experience slower because they have to wait for the website to load and redirect them.
7) Remove website plug-ins you’re not using to free up website load time. This also helps website security by reducing the number of website vulnerabilities.
8) Optimize website CSS. If website CSS is optimized, website stylesheets will be smaller which means faster website load times because there’s less for your website visitor’s browser to download and process before viewing website HTML. This can be done by using website compression software or website minification tools.
9) Optimize website HTML. If website HTML code is optimized, website website files will be smaller and website load time will speed up. There are a few different ways to optimize website HTML, but a good place to start is by using website compression software on the website files themselves.
10) Minify your JavaScript code. If you have JavaScript code on your webpages, make sure it’s minified to speed up how quickly it runs on your visitor’s websites. You can do this by using software designed for this purpose or by using website minification tools such as website Compress.
11) Eliminate any website bottlenecks that cause slow performance. A bottleneck is anything that slows down your website load time or speed. Common website bottlenecks are using too many CSS stylesheets, not minifying the HTML code in all of your website webpages, placing an excessive amount of content in one webpage file, ignoring proper image optimization techniques for your website’s images (such as compressing website images or using website format alternatives), and not properly configuring website caching components.
12) Use website load testing software periodically to monitor website performance and keep website load times as fast as possible. You can run website tests manually or set website monitoring software to test your website automatically for you on a regular basis. Either way, website speed is an ongoing process that must be monitored and improved because even the best optimized website won’t stay at its peak forever.
Need a Fast Loading Website?
If you’re looking to create an effective website, it’s important that your site is not only aesthetically pleasing but also fast loading. We can help with both of these things by creating a beautiful design for your new site and making sure the code is optimized so visitors get what they need quickly without having to wait around or click through multiple pages before seeing anything. Our team of experts work closely with our clients every step of the way from conception to launch, ensuring that we are always providing each customer with exactly what they were hoping for.
Contact us today if you want more information about how we can make your next project a success! (360) 450-3711
