Want to know why your website loads like a sloth? More importantly, would you love to know how to fix the issue?
This article can help!
We consulted the top Legiit web developers that diagnose and fix slow websites for a living. Then, we compiled their insights and tips into this robust guide.
Here is a quick overview of what you can expect in this guide:
- When should you consider your website speed as slow?
- What is slowing down your website?
- How to diagnose a slow website
- How to fix slow website loading
- DFY, hands-off services for rectifying slow websites
When Should You Consider Your Website Speed As Slow?
There are contrasting opinions on the web about slow websites. Semrush says the standard loading time should be 1-2 seconds.
On the other hand, John Mueller (Google's Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst) tells website owners to aim for a max loading speed of 3 secs.
However, the reality is that the average website takes longer than 3secs to load. Even Semrush's website (the spox of the 1-2secs campaign) takes 3.4secs to load.
It's funny, but we're not throwing a subtle shade. Our site also takes 3.7secs to load.
Mind you, 3.4 and 3.7 secs are fast loading speeds regardless of what you read on the web. How so?
According to a 2019 Backlinko study, a web page takes 10.3secs to load on a desktop and 27.3secs on a mobile.
So, you see, 3.4secs (even 3.7secs) is not bad for your website. Both are less than half the average loading speed.
Bottom line: if your website is within 4 secs loading speed, it's doing great. So, don't be put off by talks on the web.
Nonetheless, don't relent on trimming your website loading speed. If possible, limit the max time to 2.5secs.
But first, let's learn what might be slowing down your website.
Pro tip: download this niche breakdown of website loading speed as guidance.
What Is Slowing Down Your Website? The Usual Culprits
Summarily, when your website is slow to load, the fault broadly lies with its server or content. But if you want a more precise breakdown, check out the reasons below:
Hosting Issues
The performance of your website is only as effective as the hosting provider. Often, a cheap hosting will result in a series of performance hiccups.
Here is what we mean:
Cheap hosting providers will offer your website a room on a server shared with other websites (shared hosting). As a result, there will be a strain on the resources. Hence, poor performance and slow loading speed.
Mind you, the situation will worsen once your website gets higher traffic. At that point, you would have exhausted your allocated resources. Even worse: your increased traffic might affect the other websites on the shared server.
Server Location And Absence Of Content Distribution Network (CDN)
Sharing a server with other websites can make yours slow. However, the effect of that (shared hosting) is only a fraction of what you'll experience choosing a poor server location.
The proximity of your server to visitors can increase how quickly they access your website. If a user is further away from your servers, their browser will take longer to connect to your site. Hence, the slow loading speed.
Ordinarily, the problem of server proximity can be solved with CDN. A CDN service can route your users to one of the nearest independent servers and reduce the exhausting round-trip time (RTT).
Content Management System (CMS) Issues
Like web hosting, your choice of CMS is just as critical to the loading speed of your website. CMS is even more crucial to your website when you lack the technical expertise of a web developer.
With CMS, you can manage or even build a website without mastering HTML or JavaScript. But you should also be careful. Else, choosing just any CMS can slow down your website and increase its bounce rate.
And here's the tricky part: you might think using the popular WordPress CMS means you won't worry about slow loading websites. Well, you would be wrong!
WordPress isn't even in the top 5 CMS for website speed. According to Backlinko, Weebly and Squarespace are the best choice CMS for fast-listing websites.
Notwithstanding, even WordPress websites can still achieve fast loading speed in the right hands. That brings us to the issue of outdated CMS.
Whether you use Squarespace, Weebly, or WordPress, an outdated CMS will result in a slow-loading website.
JavaScript (JS) Issues And Lack Of gZIP Compression
JS can be a blessing and, at the same time, be a bane to your website. It makes adding active (moving) content to websites convenient. Still, JS can compound your page load speed.
Due to the nature of JS files, it takes time to interpret and execute them. So if your website contains excessive JS, it will result in more HTTP requests.
Unfortunately, the activities will result in a slow-loading website. But luckily, you can avoid the issues with JS and its HTTP requests with gZIP compression.
With gZIP compression, you can bundle JS files and other web objects together. Then, you can send them all at once (as a compressed file) and reduce the number of HTTP requests.
Dense And Unclean Code
Lines of code also contribute to your page speed. Like JavaScript, the bulkier your code, the more time your website takes to load.
Bulkiness aside, the arrangement and neatness of the code also matter. If your website stylesheet contains several empty lines and white spaces, your website speed will suffer the backlash.
The same principle applies to codes with unnecessary comments and inline styling. They will slow down your website, especially when you don't have a robust server capacity.
Flash Content
Flash, like JS, makes websites more dynamic and interactive. However, it is out of fashion among web developers.
Besides, Adobe (with an official statement) ended support and updates to Flash Player at the end of 2020. She even advised users to uninstall the Player as it will not play Flash content starting January 12, 2021.
So, if you still have Flash content on your website, the chances are that your users can't even view it. The files will be redundant and might even contribute to unnecessary elements in your line of code.
If your website visitors could view the flash content, the situation still doesn't benefit your website. Here's why:
Like other antiquated web development, Flash files are bulky. The files themselves take time to load. Hence, they can slow down your website performance.
Hi-Res Images
Long before JS and Flash content, images have been one of the core interactive elements of websites. However, they (images) can also slow down your page loading speed. This is how:
The best images are high-definition. As a result, they take up several bandwidths and result in large-size files.
Another factor to consider is the format of the images you upload. JPEGs have small sizes, unlike PNGs and GIFs.
Also, uploading several large-size images on your website and later scaling them down won't help your page loading speed. If anything, you will increase HTTP requests and compound the issue.
Ultimately, having several large images on your website will slow it down, regardless of your CMS or CDN.
Ineffective Or Zero Caching
Caching can solve most of the content-related issues of a slow loading speed. It saves frequently used data and prevents browsers from reloading your entire page every time.
However, you can only get results when using efficient caching techniques. Else, your website won't be at its best performance.
Note: while you can cache almost everything on your website, take time not to create a mess.
Messy Ads
Ideally, you want to generate passive income by placing ads on your website, especially when it starts receiving high traffic. However, the number of ads on your site can reduce its loading speed. Here is how:
Ads also send HTTP requests. And the requests usually vary depending on the type of ad. Of the lot, rich media ads (like pop up and under) are the worst; they can make your website standstill with their hundreds of requests within seconds.
The website performance impact of ads aside, you can put off your users. When you place too many ads on your site, especially at crucial points of information retrieval, visitors can bounce off altogether.
Now, the chances are that your website won't be at the mercy of all of the factors above. So, trying to fix them all might be a waste of time. Instead, diagnose the problem and fix it head-on. This section can help:
How To Diagnose A Slow Website
The best way to diagnose a slow website is to hire a developer for the job. Worried about the cost?
Don't be; hire freelancers!
However, if you want to dabble around or have a basic knowledge of how to diagnose a slow loading website, check out these tools:
Web Page Test
John Mueller mentioned webpagetest.org in his recommendation. And it's easy to see why!
The diagnostic tool is free to use. Yet, it comes with vital statistics that can help you determine the part of your website that needs attention.
PageSpeed Insights
If you want the opinion of big G (Google) about your website loading speed, this tool (PageSpeed Insights) can help.
However, be aware that PageSpeed Insights information is somewhat limited. Regardless, you'll get an overview of your website's crucial statistics like:
- First Contentful Paint (FCP),
- First Input Delay (FID),
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), and
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Similar tool: YSlow works like PageSpeed Insights, but it's for Yahoo.
Also read: How to Rank Without Backlinks
GTMetrix
GTMetrix is arguably the most robust and widely-used diagnostic tool for testing website performance. Its interface is simple and beginner-friendly.
Also, the tool comes with free and paid options. For the latter, however, your server location will be limited.
Regardless of your plan, rest assured that GTMetrix recommendations are always top-notch.
How To Fix Slow Website Loading
Follow these actionable tips to correct the issues revealed from your website performance test:
Hosting Issues
For hosting-related issues, consider upgrading from shared hosting. Try dedicated hosting once your website starts receiving high traffic.
But if your website loading speed is still slow with an upgraded hosting plan, consider changing your provider.
Server Location Issues
If you're like Legiit with a global business, you can't possibly subscribe to all the local servers across the globe. The process will be expensive; instead, invest in CDN services.
CMS Issues
Ensure you pick the right Content Management System for your website. And while you're at it, ensure you regularly update your CMS.
Also, ensure your CMS is free of bugs!
JS And Coding Issues
Consider minifying your JS and line of codes. As much as possible, remove unnecessary comments. Also, keep out the empty and white spaces.
For JavaScript, particularly, consider gZIP compression. It will reduce the files into a single package that requires little processing time.
Flash Content Issues
As earlier stated, Flash content is outdated. So, remove it from your website and include contemporary and light innovations such as HTML5.
Hi-Res Images
Instead of PNG and GIF images, try using JPEGs. Even if you must use PNG and GIF, restrict the usage to icons.
And while you're using JPEG images, ensure they are no larger than 2MB. How?
Use an image optimization too. About that, we'll recommend resizeimage.net. It's a free tool, and its interface is straightforward.
You can also try imagemeta.io to change the Meta description of your images.
Messy Ads
Remove the rich media ads from your website. If you can't remove it all, limit the ads to when they are crucial.
For example, limit your pop-ups to the end of your funnel. By doing so, you'll improve your click-through rate and convert your visitors with ease.
Beyond the listed tips here, there'll be a few technical issues beyond you. When that time comes, outsource the fix to an expert web developer. While you're at it, ensure your aid is adept at both front-end and back-end development.
You can run with our suggestions below:
DFY, Hands-off Services For Rectifying Slow Websites
WordPress Page Speed Optimization
This seller manages the Legiit website. And we can vouch for their expertise. Beyond our recommendation, check what other buyers think of them here.
WordPress Site Speed Optimization with GTMetrix
This seller can help your website to achieve 80-90+ scores on GTMetrix. They will minify your JS & codes and optimize your images.
Also, the service includes a full CDN setup. In short, this is a one-stop location to fix the slow speed of your website.
Fix Technical On-Site SEO Issues For WordPress
This service can help you interpret your website diagnostic test. It'll follow the recommendations and get your website back in shape.
Yet, the seller goes above and beyond to get your website up to speed. Beyond the diagnostic results, the seller also audits your site further to see if there are any more errors.
Summary
Always keep the content on your website in check. More importantly, use the best host and hosting plans. Those two are the reasons why your website is slow to load.
Check this out: How To Do A SERP Analysis
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