You’ll find all kinds of tricks, hacks and tips for speeding up your website, but if those apps or other approaches aren’t on the up and up, you could be penalized severely. The reality is that there are many reasons why your site and/or computer is slow, and you need to troubleshoot to find the real problem. Otherwise, it will likely only get worse and (worst case scenario) you’ll drive away viewers and customers.
For starters, make sure you have a solid in-memory database which can boost your speed and overall performance. Many times, it’s a simple upgrade that’s in order. Maybe you’ve outgrown your old needs, some of your technology is outdated and doesn’t play nicely with others, or you haven’t prioritized maintenance. Otherwise, here are a few other reasons slowness might be plaguing you:
1. There are too many cooks in the server’s kitchen
The vast majority of websites depend on a shared server that’s managed by a web host. This makes sense, because you need at least 3,000 unique visitors per day to make a costly dedicated server worth it. However, if you go with a freemium model, you could be sharing that server with hundreds of other people. Obviously, the fewer people you’re sharing with, the better the server will perform. Check out the New York Times blog for tips on shopping for a web host.
2. You have images/videos that are too big
The more non-static “stuff” you have on a website, the slower it will be. Plus, remember that some of your customers might have older tablets, laptops or smartphones than you and it could be appearing even slower to them. At Daily Tips, you can find out how to check for mobile readiness and see where you’re lacking. It’s a part of responsive design and can’t be overlooked.
3. The Wi-Fi connection sucks
Sometimes it’s nothing anybody can really control (especially if they’re on a free, public Wi-Fi connection). However, if you’re just getting complaints from a handful of customers, it’s possible that a slow site is due to their Wi-Fi and not your site or your host. This isn’t what anyone wants to hear, so hopefully they’ll figure it out for themselves.
4. There’s hidden “gunk”
Just because a website looks like doesn’t mean it is. You should have your developer and/or SEO pro regularly check for invisible text and messy code that could be slowing things down.
Remember: research shows that people won’t wait even one extra second for a slow loading site. Speed it up, or risk losing big profits.