10 Reasons Why Your Website Is Slower Than Your Rival

Is your website slower than your rival business? Customers shop online. They are casually surfing the internet and think to themselves; “Ohhh. Where can I get that thing I need? How expensive is it? Where is the closest place to buy?” These are all perfectly reasonable questions and all part of the shopping experience. The next step for the online shopper would be to check out the websites of the relevant businesses for the best possible deal.

I’m sure your business offers a great service with best possible prices or the best possible value. But this is no good to the internet shopper if they have to spend valuable moments waiting for your website to load. So your website is at the top of the google listings? Great! However, what’s the point if it takes too long to load? Why wouldn’t the customer hop to the next website? Why shouldn’t they? Why should they wait when your business rival has a faster website? This is serious stuff and could be something you need to look at, possibly in the long run to save your business.

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We have been working with business websites for a long time now and we can tell you the most common things to look for if your website isn’t keeping up.

10 Reasons Why Your Website is Too Slow

1) Too much flash content

Too much flashy visual stuff that an amateur web designer has crammed onto your website for no benefit what so ever. Customers are smart and can tell when a business is trying to overcompensate. Even if it looks visually amazing, flashy animations are slowing your website down and the customer doesn’t care. They are in a hurry, especially if they are using a mobile device, which is very important! ( See #10)

2) Too Many Ads

Another clear sign that your website is being run by amateurs. Free website hosting services often have to subsidise their revenue with advertising sponsorship they have no control over. If you hire a professional web designer they will be able to host the website privately and it won’t contain any adverts. If you look at any professional business website you will soon realise the difference they all have. It has become a sign of quality for the internet business nowadays.

3) Too Many Plugins

In the same way that too much unnecessary flash content kills your website performance, so does too many plugins. Don’t get us wrong, plugins are very useful but not for just any reason, everything has a time and a place. As proud WordPress Specialists, we know where and when they are needed. We also know when it slows your website down.

4) Lots of traffic

So this is a good thing. Your business is booming but it’s not a good thing if your website can’t keep up. Again this is something that a professional web designer would anticipate and would account for in choosing a web host provider. If you look at all the large companies online, their websites are never slow for this very same reason.

5) No Page Caching

For WordPress sites, this is the big one. Not to get too complicated but caching is how various parts of the website talk to each other. If this isn’t working then it’s a clue that your web designers don’t know what they are doing and you need web designers who do.

6) Too many extra large images

Like the flash software, no need for overkill, let the products and services you offer speak for themselves. Yes, it’s nice to have visually engaging content but it’s quality, not quantity that sells. It’s ok if you want to give the customers a close-up look at the goods and create an authentic as possible shopping experience. Make sure you hire a web designer who knows how to make this happen without slowing your website and hence your business. You need to optimise the images for a healthy working website.

7) Images with no text descriptions

It’s also important to make sure that images have ‘alt-tags’ text on them as not everyone in the world has the luxury of the high-speed broadband internet but they are still potential customers.

8) Simply not updated

If a website is not maintained it get run down and customers can sense this. The slower, and clumsier the website looks reflects your business image. Remember the modern website is the new virtual shop window and if your shop window looks run down and uncared for, why is the customer shopping with you?

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9) Your files are not compressed

You can have a lot going on in your website and unlike the flash and large images, it’s all vital. You have plenty of space, a good host provider but it’s still slow. There is a strong chance that your website has not been compressed with zip files which basically condense the existing content. Another sign of amateur web craftsmanship but also means you aren’t getting value for the service provided.

10) Not mobile friendly.

This is a big problem for the modern shopper. It was reported two years ago that 36% of retail purchases are made from mobile devices. Mobile friendly websites are now a must for any business. If your website doesn’t have fluid grid layout (which you can test by visiting and trying to move the webpage on your mobile phone) then it needs to be. Asap. We cannot overestimate the importance of this.

This list is not exhaustive by any means and if you have any more concerns we are always available to help. Simply give us call on 02380 011718 or drop us a line on info@sitesforbusiness.co.uk.