Why Your Website’s Loading Speed is Killing Your Business (And How to Fix It)

Introduction

Did you know that 60% of people will leave a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load?

People’s attention spans are shorter than ever these days, and if you don’t give them something right away, they’ll lose interest.

In this article, you’ll learn how slow loading speeds hurt businesses and get practical tips to fix them.

Why Loading Speed Matters

Impact on User Experience

If your site doesn’t load within 1-2 seconds, people will get bored and leave immediately (I do it all the time, and I bet you do too).

On top of that, it also hurts your SEO optimization, and here’s why that’s bad…

Impact on SEO

Just like people don’t like slow websites, Google has an even harsher opinion about them.

Slow websites hurt crawlability (Google’s ability to scan your site), which directly impacts indexing.

Because of this, your site won’t show up in the top results when someone searches for the service or product you offer – even if you have solid SEO optimization.

Impact on Conversion and Revenue

I’ve already mentioned that slow websites kill sales.

Here’s a real-life example: Amazon’s research showed that a page load slowdown of just one second could cost them $1.6 billion in sales annually!

That’s a lot, right?

Fast websites leave a positive impression on customers, and they’re more likely to come back and buy from you again.

Below, you’ll read some of the reasons why your website might be slow.

Common Causes of Slow Loading Speed

Large, Unoptimized Pictures

A lot of people create great, professional-looking images for their products or services and upload them to their website without checking the file size.

Large images load slowly—now imagine having an online store with hundreds or even thousands of products. That would quickly become a huge problem.

The solution? Resize images before uploading them or convert them to the WebP format.

Too Many Plugins or Scripts

When you add too many plugins or have excessive JavaScript code and features on your website, it can really slow things down because the site has to load all of that first before it can function properly.

The solution? Use plugins and JavaScript in moderation—nobody needs a million features anyway.

Poor Hosting

I’ll say this only once: DON’T BE CHEAP ON HOSTING.

Think of your website as your child and hosting as the daycare. Would you choose a daycare with slow, terrible service and constant issues? Of course not.

Cheap hosting providers usually offer fewer resources, which makes it easier for the server to get overloaded and slow down.

When it comes to hosting, my personal choice is A2 Hosting, and I’ve been extremely happy with it.

Unoptimized Code

Many developers live by the philosophy, “if it works, don’t touch it,” but that’s kind of a bad approach.

Code needs to be well-optimized and clean, not just for future developers who might work on the project, but also for the website’s loading speed.

A computer takes longer to process messy, disorganized code, which means your site will load slower.

Choose your developer wisely!

Tools to Test and Monitor Loading Speed

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights is a tool that measures your website’s performance on both desktop and mobile devices.

Here’s what the tool provides:

• Scores: A rating from 1 to 100 for desktop and mobile performance.

• Suggestions: Helps you identify what needs improvement (e.g., reduce image sizes, optimize JavaScript code…).

• Metrics: Provides key metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP), Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

GTmetrix

GTmetrix is a website analysis tool that uses Lighthouse and PageSpeed to generate detailed reports.

Here’s what the tool offers:

• Scores: Provides scores for performance (PageSpeed) and structure (YSlow).

• Detailed Reports: Shows load time, page size, number of requests, and other metrics.

• Video Recording: Captures a video of the page loading process so you can see how users experience your site.

• Testing from Different Locations: Allows you to test your site from various geographic locations.

• Recommendations: Gives detailed optimization tips (e.g., compress images, remove unused CSS).

Pingdom

Pingdom is a tool for monitoring website performance and availability.

Here’s what the tool provides:

• Uptime Monitoring: Tracks your website’s availability 24/7 and notifies you of any downtime.

• Performance Analysis: Measures page load time, number of requests, and other metrics.

• Geographic Monitoring: Tests performance from servers around the world.

• Reports: Generates detailed reports on performance and availability.

• Alerts: Sends notifications via email or SMS if issues arise.

Real-Life Example

Now you’re probably thinking, 'Okay, Slaviša, that all sounds good, but is there a real-life example?' Well, I’m about to show you just that.

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine where users can find ideas for various topics such as recipes, home decor, fashion, and more. As the platform grew, the company noticed that slow loading times were negatively affecting user experience, especially on mobile devices.

Problems:

• Slow loading times: The average time to fully load a page was around 8 seconds, which led to user frustration and high bounce rates.

• Mobile performance: A significant portion of Pinterest's traffic came from mobile devices, but the mobile experience was suboptimal due to slow loading speeds.

Pinterest implemented several optimizations to improve its website loading speed:

• Reduced JavaScript payload: They minimized and optimized the JavaScript code to reduce its size and improve execution time.

• Lazy loading images: Implemented lazy loading for images, ensuring that only the images visible on the screen were loaded initially.

• Improved server response times: Optimized server configurations and used a content delivery network (CDN) to reduce latency.

• Prioritized critical resources: Ensured that critical resources were loaded first to render the page faster.

Results:

• 40% decrease in perceived wait time: Users experienced a significant reduction in the time it took for the page to become interactive.

• 15% increase in search engine traffic: Faster loading times improved Pinterest's search engine rankings, leading to more organic traffic.

• Higher user engagement: The number of user sessions increased, and users spent more time on the platform.

• Improved conversion rates: Faster loading times led to higher conversion rates, as users were more likely to engage with content and take desired actions.