Piggybacking off the famous line from Top Gun, visitors to your website expect content to be delivered fast and be relevant to their search. Page speed refers to how quickly your website loads and responds to user interactions. It's typically measured in seconds and milliseconds and includes various factors such as page load time, server response time, and rendering speed.
Page load speed and rendering speed may sound like 2 ways of describing the same thing. While related, they are 2 distinct aspects of web performance.
Page Load Speed versus Rendering Speed
Page load speed refers to the total time it takes for a web page to fully load in a browser. This includes downloading all the resources like HTML, CSS, Javascript, images, and other media. Metrics like "Load Time" and "Fully Loaded Time" are ways page speed is measured. Page load speed is about the entire process from requesting a page to fully loading it.
Rendering speed specifically refers to how quickly a browser can process and display the content of a webpage once it has been downloaded. It's about the browser's ability to parse and render HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Metrics like "First Contentful Paint" (FCP) and "Largest Contentful Paint" (LCP) are used to measure aspects of rendering speed. Rendering speed is encompassed within Page Load Speed.
Page load speed and rendering speed are both crucial for a good user experience and for SEO. Optimizing one doesn't necessarily mean the other is optimized. When not optimized, slow page speed can ensue. The need for speed from your website can't be stressed enough. Below are some statistics from Huckabuy.com on the impact of page speed on conversion and bounce rates.
- Walmart found that for every 1 second improvement in page load time, their conversion rate increased by 2%. While that may not sound impressive, a 2% increase with Walmart's volume is substantial.
- For every second delay in mobile page load, conversions can fall by up to 20%.
- A 2 second delay in page load time increases bounce rates by 103%.
- If a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, 53% of mobile visitors will leave the website.
- 79% of shoppers who have trouble with website performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again.
As can be seen by the statistics above, page speed, or lack thereof, can make or break online success. The negative user experience (UX) generated by slow page speeds increases bounce rates and lowers retention rates. If your site is slow, users will look to competitor's sites, for a faster and better experience. Google and other search engines prioritize user experience and reward faster websites with higher rankings.
- Optimize Images - images are compressed and optimized to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. We use the most suitable formats for files and use lazy loading to load images only when they are visible to users.
- Minimize HTTP Requests - when referring to minimizing HTTP requests, it means reducing the number of separate requests a web page makes to a server to retrieve various elements needed to display the page. A few of the ways we reduce HTTP requests include the use of lazy loading (noted above) and browser caching so that the browser stores certain elements for use at later times rather than constantly retrieving them from the server each time a user requests it. We also keep interactions to a minimum to not slow down page speed.
- Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) - As discussed on the Web Hosting page, Webflow's hosting platform uses Amazon Web Services and Fastly's CDNs to distribute website content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing server response times and improving loading speed no matter where users are in the world.
- Reduce Unnecessary Code - As noted in the Web Development section on the Web Design & Development page, Webflow generates clean, semantic code (no bloated code like other platforms), ensuring that search engines can easily crawl and index the content.
- Choose a Fast Hosting Provider - As mentioned in Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) above, Webflow's use of Amazon Web Services helps ensure hosting speeds are fast regardless of where a visitor to your site is located globally. If we build a site for you and you decide to go with a less expensive hosting service, we will find the most suitable provider with the fastest speed based on your budget.
- Monitor and Test: As noted on the Analytics & Measurements page, we use Google Search Console as one of testing tools for website performance. In addition, I utilize GTmetrix which tests your site's Core Web Vitals and monitors them alerting you when any issues arise that slow's down your page speed.
If you'd like to learn more about your website and its performance, please reach out to us today to discuss.
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