Site speed can make or break your success when it comes to converting your website users – or even just keeping them on your site. We all know the pain of waiting for a new website to load on our mobile or desktop. As websites have become more responsive, we’ve becoming much less forgiving.
According to Google, most sites lose half their speed while loading. So how fast should your site load? Well, if you need to count the seconds with more than one hand’s worth of fingers, you’ve got some problems. That goes for the more controlled environment of desktop as well as the less predictable mobile.
The same principles apply to mobile site speed, but you may find that your users are even less forgiving of delays in that environment. In a nanosecond your user can jump out of the browser and into another app, leaving your website in the dust. Goodbye customers!
So let’s get your site speed checked out so you don’t have to guess anymore. Luckily, there are some great free tools we can use to diagnose any major speed issues.
Try these site speed test tools
Webpage test is a free tool that lets you run a free website speed test by setting your location or browser of choice which means you get to test the real consumer connection speeds.
Use webpagetest.org to run a basic test of your site load time, or perform advanced testing if you need to diagnose more in-depth issues. When your test is done, this tool gives you rich diagnostic information including resource loading waterfall charts, Page Speed optimisation checks and a handy list of recommended improvements.
Another helpful freebie, Google’s developer’s tool, PageSpeed Insights is user friendly and quick. Enter your URL and you’ll get an instant health-check plus a list of easily actionable fixes or areas for further investigation. You’re able to split the results to see how your speed on desktop compares to mobile.
Boasting a features-packed free version, GTmetrix is also worth a look when you’re in the process of analysing your site speed. It provides a full report on your selected URL with options you can customise and a list of actionable recommendations.
The beauty of GTmetrix lies in its monitoring features. You can schedule it to test your pages daily, weekly or monthly to ensure your site stays optimised. Then, set up monitored alerts so that you’re notified whenever something strange happens to your site speed.
Your site load speed is an important part of your digital performance and can significantly effect your SEO ranking and your user experience. Don’t test your users’ patience or lose potential customers. If you’d like to talk to the experts about getting up to speed, contact us at Redline Digital.