What do we mean by website speed?
The term speed when used in reference to a website refers to the initial page loading time and response time to user actions (such as clicking and scrolling) on the website.
Reasons for optimizing website speed
- Optimizing website speed improves the users’ experience.
- Good website speeds are proven to reduce the website bounce rate and increase the average user session. This allows you more time to communicate your offering through your website.
- Optimized website speeds also improve search engine rankings because faster loading websites are prioritized in search engine ranking algorithms.
- Another benefit of optimizing website speed is higher conversion rates for ecommerce sites. Consequently leading to a financial return.
Optimize images files
Image files tend to be the largest when loading a web page. Large image files can slow down the speed of your website. Images however have become an essential part in the storytelling mediums used on websites. Image files can be compressed to be smaller while still maintaining the image quality. One can also explore the use of different formats of files that tend to be smaller such as svg for icons and backgrounds.
Minify css and js files
Minification of CSS and Js file includes removing unneeded code from files, to reduce the size of the file without changing how the file executes. Removing this extra data from the code through minification helps the browser load and process these files faster, increasing page performance.
Reduce the number of http requests
Each additional http request increases website load time; therefore reducing the number of http requests being made can significantly speed up a site. One way of doing this is merging multiple CSS and JavaScript files into one. Implementing lazy loading the practice of loading parts of the webpage as needed reduces the number of initial http requests.
Use browser caching
Browser caching is the practice of storing files in the browser temporary storage so that they are not reloaded on every page visit. The files that are reused in multiple places across the website such as css, js and image files can be cached. This reduces the load times especially for frequent website visitors.
Remove unused files and libraries
If there are files or libraries being loaded in your page that are not being used they are unnecessarily slowing down your website. Sometimes there are files and libraries being loaded on all pages yet they are only being used on some pages. Make sure these external files that are loaded are necessary for the specific page and are only loaded when needed. These unnecesary files can also occur when upgrading and switching dependencies; make sure the files of the old version have been deleted.