Top Ways to Improve Page Loading Speed

What is Page Speed?

The simplest definition of page speed is the speed at which content appears when someone views a page on your website. Page speed, which is distinct from website speed, is the speed at which a given page loads.

The speed of a page may be influenced by many different things. Among the most significant are:

• How many media files—movies, images, and other types—are present on the website?

• What plugins and themes have you installed on your website?

• Server-side scripts and the principle of your website (and the particular page)

All of these factors have an impact on the UX of your website and the speed at which your pages load. After all, users despise pages that take a long time to load and are more likely to leave them.

How do You Measure Page Load Time?

There are two methods to measure page speed:

• Page load time:This is the length of time it takes for the page to fully load and render after the browser sends the request to the server.

• Time to first byte: This is how long it takes for the browser to get its first byte of data after the server receives the request.

Either way, it's always better to have a faster page. However, it's worth mentioning that Google measures a page's speed as the time to first byte, often referred to as TTFB.

Why Does Page Load Time Matter?

The usefulness of a website is greatly dependent on how quickly web pages load. Page speed is one of the 200 ranking variables that Google believes affects a website's placement in organic search results and improves the user experience. With so many websites in your field, it's getting harder and harder to get visitors to your site and keep them there with impressive usability. If your website takes a while to load, you can lose visitors to your rivals in only a few seconds.

The crawl rate of your website may be increased by having a quick page load time. The more pages Google can crawl at once, the quicker they can load. Additionally, a fast page speed might make Google want to crawl more pages on your website.

It's also important to remember that the hosting provider and plan you select can significantly affect how quickly a website loads. If you use WordPress, as do 37% of websites worldwide, you might want to choose Managed Wordpress Hosting to save time and obtain guidance from the pros.

How to Improve Your Page Load Time

• Test website performance

  Website performance is evaluated using speed tests. Regular testing can assist developers in identifying performance declines or gains. A speed test should also assist developers in identifying any places that are hindering website performance as well as potential areas for enhancement.

  There are several excellent site speed tests available, many of them gratis, to gauge performance. The website WebPageTest.org, which collaborates with PerfectionGeeks Technologies, offers several free tests and generates thorough analyses of how rapidly various page parts load. Websites may be tested for different devices and network connection speeds using WebPageTest.org.

  Google also provides PageSpeed Insights for thorough performance analysis. The Network tab in Google Chrome DevTools displays all HTTP requests, the size of any requested files, and the response time in milliseconds. This information may be used by developers to evaluate the speed of their site.

• Use a CDN (content delivery network)

  By storing cached copies of material in many places worldwide, CDNs increase the performance of websites. In contrast to the host, or origin server, CDN caching servers are often situated closer to end users. Instead of the hosting server, which may be hundreds of miles away and spread across several independent networks, requests for content are sent to a CDN server. A CDN may significantly reduce the time it takes for pages to load.

• Optimise images

  The majority of Internet traffic is made up of images, and as picture files are frequently bigger than HTML and CSS files, they frequently take the slowest load on a website. Fortunately, image optimisation helps speed up picture loading. Image optimizers and image compressors are widely available online for free, and they may be used to reduce the resolution, compress the files, and reduce the size of photographs.

• Minify CSS and JavaScript files

  Code comments, whitespace, and unused semicolons are all examples of items that should be removed from a piece of code to make it easier for computers to understand and execute. JavaScript and CSS files are somewhat compressed as a result, making them load more quickly and consume less bandwidth. Minification won't significantly increase speed on its own. But putting these additional suggestions into practise will improve website performance.

• Reduce the number of HTTP requests if possible

  The majority of webpages demand that browsers send repeated HTTP requests for the page's different resources, such as graphics, scripts, and CSS files. Dozens of these queries are necessary for many websites. A web page's total load time might increase as a result of the round trip that each request causes to and from the server hosting the resource. An issue with one of the hosts might also affect how quickly or whether the web page loads since it loads resources from several separate providers.

  The general amount of assets that each page requires to load should be kept to a minimum due to these possible issues. A speed test should also aid in determining which HTTP queries are taking the longest. For instance, developers can seek a quicker image hosting option (like a CDN) if pictures are slowing down a page's load time.

• Use browser HTTP caching

  Instead of repeatedly requesting the same material, browsers keep copies of static files in the browser cache, which allows them to load recently viewed websites considerably more rapidly. Elements of a website that won't change frequently can be instructed by developers to be cached by browsers. In the headers of the hosting server's HTTP replies are instructions for browser caching. Users who often use particular sites may notice shorter load times as a result of the significant reduction in data that the server must provide to the browser.

• Minimise the inclusion of external scripts

  Every time a page loads, any programmed website components that require external loading, such as external commenting systems, CTA buttons, or lead-generation popups, must also be loaded. These scripts, depending on their size, might make a website load slowly or not all at once (a problem known as "content jumping" or "layout shifting" that is especially aggravating for mobile users).

• Don't use redirects, if possible

  A redirect occurs when users of one website are instead sent to another. Redirects improve the time it takes for a website to load by a few hundredths of a second, or even by a whole second. Every second matters when developing a performance-optimised website. Although they are occasionally inevitable, redirects shouldn't be utilized until they are essential.

FAQs

• What is the best practice for page load time?

  Most companies agree that a good desktop page load time is under 2 seconds (about 28% say that a good page load time is under 1 sec, and about 39% think the good load time is under 2 seconds).

• Why don't web pages load properly?

  Sometimes, those DNS servers can go down or experience other issues that may prevent a site from loading properly, even on different browsers. You can try to flush your DNS cache and see if that helps the situation, or even change your DNS server entirely. This can always be changed back if it doesn't fix the problem.

• What affects page load time?

  Many different factors affect page load time. The speed at which a page loads depends on the hosting server, amount of bandwidth in transit, and web page design, as well as the number, type, and weight of elements on the page. Other factors include user location, device, and browser type.

• How do I clear my website cache?

  Android:

  On your Android phone or tablet, open the Chrome app.

  At the top right, tap more.

  Tap History Clear browsing data.

  At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All Time.

  Next to "Cookies and site data" and "Cached images and files," check the boxes.

  Tap Clear data.