Historically, the subject of website loading time has always been important. Visitor engagement, customer retention, generating new business, and brand building all depend on quick load times. Whether right, wrong or some place in the middle, today’s visitors have their own expectations for page load time, which hovers around two seconds, and three seconds (with luck) for mobile devices,
Demanding, yes, but the reality is that load times have taken on a new level of importance in today’s environment. Bells and whistles aside, a substantial increase in site load speed can result in increased conversions.
Yet a good performance entails more than speed. It’s got to include great content that’s presented effectively and with a specific audience in mind. Plus your site has to be able to withstand a heavy amount of traffic without slowing down or crashing to a halt.
Running a Load Test Check
Checking your site for any weaknesses can be done through a load test to pinpoint any problems when it comes to load time, broken links and any problems with overall performance. These valuable tools can be found online for free, whereas others offer free initial trials. It can definitely provide an education.
In addition, other factors beyond load time can compromise performance and results. To name a few, there’s the aspect ratio of images, poor Web content, and design that doesn’t function correctly. Also, poor navigation can be a killer, especially with an ecommerce site.
The New “type” of Kid on the Web
A new and growing annoyance for Web visitors is poor typeface choices. It gets worse when combined with the lack of contrast with the site background. An example of this would be light gray type against jet black or a medium gray background. Light grey type against a white background is even worse. This might sound picky, but if you see it in action, you’ll quickly realize it doesn’t add up to a positive experience.
Consider the Market Demographics
With the aging of society, and the ongoing increase in Baby Boomers as both consumers and entrepreneurs, enterprise companies can expect even more of a challenge with their websites. Nevertheless, long waits times, scripting issues and content that’s difficult to read are turnoffs for all demographics. These will inevitably result in an increase in bounce rates and decreased revenue.
Choosing a Web Hosting Company
Two of the operative words for CIOs and IT professionals are power and performance. Looking for power, speed, and affordability? Then using Rackspace’s new Performance Cloud model delivers those solutions with Intel Xeon processors and RAID 10-protected, data-center-grade solid state drives (SSDs), and so much more. Whether you choose a cloud-based model or not, a comprehensive research plan should include the following:
- A test of the actual response time for customer service and tech support should be done.
- An advanced check of potential hosting companies should cover access speed, connect time, download time, uptime performance, industry reputation, fee structures, email packages, guarantees, ecommerce options, image storage, and the availability of a blog.
The importance of determining the quality, value and performance of a potential Web hosting company is a vital part of your site’s success. An investment of research time will help make an informed decision before making any final commitments.