How Page and Site Speed Can Affect Your ecommerce Business Site speed is an essential component of a successful ecommerce transaction Speed Matters for Online Commerce Numerous studies have shown that site speed and loading time can greatly affect how customers and website visitors feel about a website. A 2009 Akamai study showed that 47% of respondents expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. A one-second delay in page loading time results in 11% less page views according to a study by the Aberdeen Group. When it comes down to site speed, even milliseconds matter. The speed at which your site loads and operates can affect your profits, customer retention, and even your search engine ranking. The Longer the Load Time, The Greater Risk of Customer Loss The 2009 Akamai study also showed that 52% of online shoppers said that fast load times are vital to their ecommerce site loyalty. A third of the shoppers in the study who had abandoned recent online shopping sessions did so because of poor site performance. 79% of the online shoppers said they were less likely to buy from an ecommerce site again if they had a disappointing experience. Many dissatisfied shoppers said they would instead shop at a competitor’s site. Having a slow ecommerce site means lost customers, lost sales, and lost future sales. If the site is running too slow, customers have no problem with leaving the site, even if they are partway through the checkout process. Site Speed Matters for SEO Site speed not only affects how customers view your site; it affects how Google views it as well. Part of Google’s search ranking algorithm includes site speed. While it is not as important as page relevance, speed can still influence how high your ecommerce site is ranked as compared to your competitors’ sites. If you are worried about how quickly your site performs, Google offers a speed suggestions report that gives you detailed tips on how you can improve your site’s speed. How to Increase Site Speed Besides Google’s speed suggestions report, there are a number of steps you can take to improve your ecommerce site’s speed. Using GZIP compression to condense your HTML and CSS can shrink your file sizes, therefore leading to faster loading times. Another way to minimize loading times is to reduce image sizes. Many photo programs now give you the option to save images for the web, which may decrease resolution but will decrease the image size to allow for faster loading. Reducing the number of plugins on your site as well as allowing for caching can also help improve your site’s speed. Clarity Can Help Clarity understands how crucial it is for your ecommerce site to run quickly and smoothly. Our team of developers has extensive experience designing and implementing websites that are quick to load while still being rich in content. To find out more about how Clarity can design a custom and fast ecommerce site for you or if you need help increasing your ecommerce site’s speed, call or click for a quote today!