The age that we live in is one that previous generations never expected.
Instead of traveling to the store to purchase a product, you can now use the Internet to browse, buy, and receive the item you are looking for.
However, because everything today is so convenient, the level of convenience is now the gold standard.
In order to stay competitive, everything about your business’s website must be fast and easy.
Most people expect a web page to load in a few seconds. However, recent studies have discovered that even one extra second of loading time can lead to a 7 percent loss in conversions.
If your website has slow loading times, you will not be very happy at the end of the year when calculating your company’s net earnings.
Read on to learn about how slow loading times can lose you business.
Slow Loading May Make Customers May Give Up
Imagine seeing an article of clothing that you want. Rather than having to drive to the store, you can simply Google it and find the brand’s official website.
Then something tragic happens: the site doesn’t load.
We live in a world where everything happens at lightning speed. Everyone wants everything to be fast and will soon want things to be faster than before.
People don’t have the time to wait around for a slow website, so they don’t. More often than not, they won’t go through with the purchase, either.
If your website speed is slow, you’re essentially telling your customers that you do not want their business. Convenience is often the deciding factor of whether or not someone makes an online purchase.
So, if you make it hard for them to buy something from you, chances are that they won’t.
It’s implied that your whole website should load quickly and smoothly. However, there is one segment that absolutely has to: the checkout process.
When people are paying for something online, they want it to be both easy and safe.
If the purchasing process is slow, it’s automatically more difficult than the customer would like.
If they enter their credit card information and are left with a blank white screen for the next 15 seconds, they may doubt your site’s security, too.
When a site is slow, your customer may simply give up. When they give up, there’s a chance that…
They May Not Return
This scenario is even worse. Not only did your website cost you a sale, but it prevented one from happening in the future.
When people think of customer service, they generally imagine an employee. It could be a waitress, a phone operator, or some other individual they interact with.
But customer service is actually the experience that the company provides to the consumer. This includes navigating through your company’s web pages as well.
A slow website is poor customer service. There’s no other way to put it.
In fact, approximately 59% of customers will not return to a company after they have had a bad experience.
Let’s not forget that consumers sometimes feel entitled to excellent service. In this case, they would want your website to load in under two seconds.
There’s nothing wrong with this, though, as it sets a higher standard for you as a business. It also eliminates slow loading times.
If you can cater to the people who expect the best, you’ll automatically satisfy everyone else.
People Talk
Humans are a very social species. We tend to tell each other everything – personal anecdotes, emotions, and ambitions for the future.
When it comes to brands, people also love to talk. They enjoy telling others how loyal they are to a certain company and its products or services.
Unfortunately, this also works the other way. Those who have had a bad experience (even as something as simple as a slow website) may tell people they know to avoid that company.
When people talk, it grows exponentially. One person turns into five, then 10, then 50, and it could go on forever.
That’s not even including the fast-traveling speed of social media.
Imagine that a social media influencer with a chip on his shoulder blasts your company’s site for being slow. There’s a strong chance it will affect your future sales.
Also think of the good that could come if your website had the simplest purchasing process ever.
Putting more time and effort into making sure your customer can fluently use your website will drive your sales higher.
Don’t Forget Mobile
Smartphones have evolved to the point where people are actually holding a pocket-sized computer in their hands.
But, mobile web pages tend to take longer to load on average. This isn’t because mobile phones are not capable of loading them quickly. It’s because businesses are not optimizing their web pages correctly.
Now more than ever, people are using their smartphone to make online purchases. It’s become so easy, actually, that an entire transaction can be completed in under a minute.
Websites like Amazon have nailed this concept. Amazon objectively makes it as easy as possible to quickly find what you are looking for and buy it.
Mobile loading speed is vital simply because such a large volume of people use their phones for everything every day.
Unfortunately, no matter how good your content is, you are missing out on a large chunk of customers if your site is not optimized for mobile devices. They’re going to give up before they ever see it.
The word “devices” here is important. Devices include iPads, tablets, and other electronics that aren’t desktop or laptop computers.
Even in their own home, consumers will often sit down with their phone or other devices to browse the Internet rather than use a computer.
Test your website speed across every commonly used platform. This is vital to making sure your customers are getting the experience they want.
Now What?
Does your website load quickly? Great! Now you can devote your time to content and other aspects of your site.
Do you experience slow loading times? If so, this is an issue that you need to fix as soon as possible.
Fortunately, there is plenty of information out there to help get you on the right path toward lightning-fast loading.