Why a Slow Website is Bad for Your Business

Who doesn’t dislike slow websites? Everyone has clicked on a link that doesn’t load immediately. Maybe you tried refreshing the page to fix the problem, but chances are you just went to a different website.

As a visitor, you know how frustrating a slow website can be, but what does this mean for you as a website owner?

When is Your Website Slow?

Research shows that over half of internet users expect a website to load within two seconds. If the site hasn’t loaded after three seconds, a large portion of these visitors will leave the page.

Want to know if your own website is slow? There are several free tools available to test your website’s speed, such as Pingdom, WebPagetest, and Google PageSpeed Insights. It’s wise to discuss the results with your web developer.

What Are the Consequences of a Slow Website?

Have you tested your website’s speed and found it didn’t perform well? Then it’s time to take action, as a slow website can have serious consequences for your online business.

A Negative User Experience

Visitors to your website, like you, find it frustrating to wait. People simply don’t like waiting. Remember the last time you had to wait too long for your food in a restaurant? You probably didn’t recommend that restaurant to others—maybe you even shared the poor service with them. The same principle applies to your website.

Your website might look great, but if users have to keep waiting, their experience becomes negative. The chances of them returning are then slim.

Fewer Page Views

When your website loads slowly, people are less inclined to view other pages on your site. Who wants to wait ten seconds each time to continue reading? This is unfortunate, especially if you’ve worked hard to create content and bring visitors to your site.

You may have even advertised on Facebook or Google, or placed an ad in the newspaper to attract visitors to your site. That money is wasted if visitors don’t want to continue exploring your website.

Bad for Search Engines

Google and other search engines use various factors to determine your website’s position in the search results. A key factor is that your website provides a pleasant and safe user experience.

A slow website leads to a poor user experience, which also negatively impacts your ranking within Google. A lower ranking means fewer visitors from organic search traffic in the long run, forcing you to invest more in ads to maintain the same number of visitors.

Fewer Conversions

The biggest impact of a slow website is on your bottom line: fewer conversions. A conversion can be a specific goal, such as a quote request, a product sale in your webshop, or a completed contact form.

Visitors get irritated by slow loading times, view fewer pages, and develop a negative association with your brand. Because your website ranks lower in search results due to its slow speed, fewer potential customers visit. A slow website can thus put your online business in a negative spiral, costing you a lot of money annually.

How Can I Make My Website Faster?

Many factors influence your website’s speed. In my next blog post, I’ll give you 15 tips to make your website faster.

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