When it comes to your website, you must consider more than just design.
There are a number of factors that determine whether or not your site visitors will stay to explore, or leave without so much as a goodbye.
One thing that can make or break your website’s success is the amount of time it takes for your pages to load. After all, web surfers are a finicky bunch; they lose interest quickly if they can’t move around your site quickly and efficiently.
So, what steps can you take to prevent page load lag?
Here are five tips to help your website load faster:
Cut out unnecessary coding
Bulky coding slows down loading speed because browsers must read through everything as they load your pages. Therefore, just going through your coding to eliminate unnecessary white space and tag elements can reduce the amount of time it takes for your pages to load.
Enable caching
PHP caching will store images and other vital information from your site on visitors’ computers when it is downloaded the first time, so that your site visitors can subsequently retrieve that data in the blink of an eye.
Trim your images down
Graphics take much longer to load than text, so you should be strategic about your use of them.
There are a few things you can do to trim down your images.
First, assess the images you are using to determine which are absolutely necessary, and then keep only those.
Second, scale the images down if you can (smaller images will load faster than larger images).
Third, if you have a page with many images (an online catalog page, for example), then you can give each image its own page instead of including all of the images on one, slow-loading page.
Optimize your database
There are numerous ways you can optimize your database to decrease your site’s load times. Simply search the web for “database optimization” to learn the details of how to get optimal performance out of your site by optimizing your database.
Find a new host
Believe it or not, the distance you are from your host affects how quickly your site loads. You can decrease your page load time by simply choosing a host that is nearby.
Additionally, some of the cheaper hosting companies use cheap equipment . . . which can significantly delay your site load. Consider upgrading.
When it comes to building your brand, your website is one of your most powerful tools. Make sure you get the best of the best by contacting the experienced professionals at Solo Web Solutions to handle all of your web design needs. We can be reached by phone, at 541-673-2671, or email: cheryl@solowebsolutions.com.
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