In a digitally-driven world where businesses compete in a saturated, online landscape, your website performance isn’t just an issue of convenience — it affects your entire digital marketing arsenal.
Google recommends that businesses' websites should load in two seconds or less. If a website is slow, visitors will put it in the trash. So what's the take? Other than high-quality content, there is one key factor that can make or mar your website's vitals: page speed.
Why Does Page Speed Matter?
Fast websites generate more leads and revenue because they are easy to use, increase customer satisfaction and strengthen brand credibility.
Conversely, slow websites can compromise your SEO, put off visitors and deter potential customers from engaging. When users visit your site, they want things to load quickly. They don’t want to wait for the page to load, for videos to buffer, for images to appear or for content to be indexed.
The bottom line: if your website takes too long to load, visitors will hit the back button. If they don’t see your site after a few seconds, they may never see it at all.
What are Other Core Web Vitals to Consider for Your Website Performance?
In addition to page speed, there are other areas of your website that should be monitored to ensure you are creating the best online experience for your customers and Google, like:
1. Loading: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
Load time usually refers to the time it takes for a web page to display all its content, including images, scripts, and other resources. The first content that is fully loaded is known as the "largest contentful paint."
The LCP of a web page is the first meaningful paint of the page. "Meaningful" here means that it is - for the user - a complete picture of the page. That the page is fully interactive, so the "paint" is the part of the page that is visually perceivable for the user.
2. Interactivity: First Input Delay (FID)The time delay between when a user's input is sent and when they see visual feedback on the page is called First Input Delay. Tracking the FID is critical for the overall User Experience (UX) metric, which is used to see how well a website performs in terms of interaction between a user and a web page.
If a user cannot interact with a website or the interaction is too slow, the user's frustration is likely to escalate.
3. Visual Stability: Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Visual stability is the amount of movement or changes a user perceives when they are interacting with a web page. Visual stability is the cumulative layout shift (CLS) of all elements on the page. When there are fewer layout changes, it is easier for users to retain their focus.
When the layout on a web page changes often and unexpectedly, it can be difficult for a user to follow the flow of information, which can be exhausting and frustrating for the user.
The Wrap: The Importance of Enhancing Your Website Performance and How It Impacts Your Marketing
While many digital marketing strategies are focused on boosting traffic, improving ranking, and increasing conversions, it is important not to lose sight of this overarching goal: helping potential customers and clients to get the information they need from your website as effectively and quickly as possible.
If a visitor has to wait for a long time to get that information, then he or she will likely go somewhere else. Let us help you make your website faster by taking off the cookie-cutter approach to your website performance!
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