Fast Load Times for Improved User Experience

An excellent website user experience can mean longer website visits, repeat visits and higher conversion rates. How to achieve a great user experience? Modern design elements and fast load times rank high in engaging users. Plenty of available plug-ins and apps tempt small business owners with promises of higher performing websites. While these are appealing and user friendly, many come at a price. They can slow page load times, prompting visitors to leave a website before even checking it out. A Portent study found that “An ecommerce site that loads within a second converts 2.5x more visitors than a site that loads in 5 seconds.”  LinkedIn recently reported that “40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.”  You want your website to look modern and the impulse may be to include all the latest bells and whistles available. Before you rush to overdo it, consider the impact they have on page load times.

What causes slow load times?

  • Design elements that take a long time to load will keep visitors from seeing their impact. Large images or a large number of images can result in slow low times. Hero images, those that fill the entire screen, make a big impact by filling the screen with your message. But if they take a long time to load, the visitor may leave the site before the image loads. Similarly, including a large number of videos will slow things down. Optimizing images will help load pages faster.
  • Widgets such as Live Chat are popular and can improve engagement with customers, but if they slow the page load time, their overall value doesn’t justify them.
  • The absence of caching can also slow load times. If an image has to load each time, the site will appear slow. Too many ads can also slow down the site.

While it’s true that these elements can slow load times, we don’t suggest you eliminate them altogether. Rather, it’s important to weigh their benefits and determine which have the highest payoff for your website. You can track the usage of various elements to see which are popular or which result in conversions. This will help you determine the best elements for your site without affecting site performance.

Website Elements that don’t affect load times

What strategies can you use to improve user experience without causing page load times to slow?

  • Simple, elegant design. Include enough white space to steer attention to your messaging. Make content clear and meaningful. Provide answers to anticipated visitor questions.
  • Make the customer journey through your website easy and engaging. From introduction to completed sale, focus on function rather than including all the latest bells and whistles.
  • Calls to Action. Let visitors know what to do next. Let them know how to contact you, include a link to a purchase page, link to social media, or link to other website pages for more information.
  • Simple to Use. Intuitive websites eliminate unnecessary steps. Don’t burden visitors with information they don’t want.
  • Great content is the top priority for any website. Clear, consistent messaging attracts and engages customers quickly. It builds credibility and causes return visits.

Moderation is key.

Your website goals will lead you toward choosing design elements that will appeal to your target customer. Including design elements such as images, videos and plug-ins are appealing, but good content will help build a relationship with a potential customer. Give visitors every opportunity to see the content by ensuring fast load times.

Wheaton Website Services creates beautiful and engaging websites for small and medium sized businesses. We provide website hosting, website design and website development to hundreds of clients across the globe. Contact us to find out more.