First impressions are everything. When it comes to your website, lightning-fast page load speeds and responsive design will help you put your best foot forward.
It can also increase your sales. Improving mobile page speed by just half a second can increase conversion rates and reduce bounce rates. On the other hand, 54% of people say that as e-commerce site load times increase, so does their frustration.
This shows that website loading speed makes an important impression on the user. Website performance optimization aims to improve the technical performance of your site, which can speed it up and, in turn, help you retain users. Here’s how to optimize your website’s performance for better business results.
Once you have data on your site’s current performance, you can start optimizing it. Here are nine effective strategies to consider:
- Optimize image files
Image files can be huge, which means that it can take a long time for your browser to load them. You can compress images using online tools such as TinyPNG or Compressor.io, or resize them using an editor such as Photoshop. Also, try to include only the images that are necessary. If they are not there, they may not be worth the extra bandwidth.
- Minify and combine files.
Minification means reducing the size of the source code by removing unnecessary characters and reducing the size of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS files. Combining multiple files into one reduces the number of requests the browser has to make, speeding up the loading process.
- Use browser caching.
Browser caching means that some of your website’s resources, such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files, are stored in the user’s browser. This way, their browser doesn’t have to retrieve your website’s files from the server every time they visit a page on your website, which speeds up the loading process. Browser caching can be configured by setting “cache-control” and “expires” headers on the web server and then specifying how long the files will be stored in the user’s browser.
- Use content delivery networks
Content delivery networks (CDNs) store content from your website on servers located closer to each user’s geographic location, reducing the distance that data must travel. CDNs minimize latency and reduce load times. Popular CDNs include Cloudflare, Akamai, and Fastly.
To complement our already strong presence in North America, Shopify has expanded our Google Cloud server fleet to locations across Europe. Our fleet is supported by Cloudflare CDN, which has over 300 points of presence. This allows brands to be closer to their customers, wherever they are.
- Optimize code execution
Optimizing the code on your website can help browsers load it faster. For example, optimizing database queries can speed up search functions because it takes less time to get results. You can optimize code to load the most important elements for the user, such as prioritizing content that appears first before scrolling.
- Enable gzip compression
Gzip is an algorithm that compresses text resources such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. It significantly reduces file size, which speeds up data transfer and page rendering. Most modern web servers have built-in support for gzip. It can be enabled by configuring the web server to differentiate between servers.
- Minimize redirects
A redirect occurs when one URL automatically redirects to another, for example, when a URL for a non-existent product sends users to a URL for a new product. In general, try to minimize these cases, as they increase page load time. Keep your sitemap up to date so that users are effectively directed to their intended destinations, and try to redirect (rather than redirect) pages with high direct traffic.
- Optimize third-party scripts and plugins
Most websites use a variety of plugins. These software components add functionality to a website and integrate easily with a content management system (CMS) or web framework. However, they can slow down website performance. Speed up page loading by regularly removing unnecessary plugins that you don’t use.
- Monitor performance
The last way to improve website performance is to monitor it. Regular performance testing is the best way to ensure long-term optimization. These efforts may take time, but they can result in a much faster website — and improved conversions, page ranking, and reputation that come with it.