Operating an e-store is a great idea. You are able to contact customers from anywhere in the world. However, there is a single factor that can delay you: **slow website speed. When your online shop is slow, they walk out before making any purchases. To achieve improved sales, you need to speedup your online store.
We shall explain on the importance of speed in this blog. You will also share some easy tips that you can use to make your store faster. It is all presented in simple words and in brief sentences in such a manner that you can go through step by step.
Why speed matters for online store
Speed is not just about time saving. It is about keeping customers happy.
- People do not like to wait. Any of your customers who spend over 3 seconds loading your store will drop.
- A fast store builds trust. Customers make a feeling that your store is professional and safe.
- Google and other search engines favors quick websites. Quick shop will enable you to be ranked higher.
- More speed means more sales. When the store is fast, customers will tend to purchase their goods.
To the point, speed results in improved sales and improved customer experience.
How website speed affects sales
Consider your habits of online shopping. Are you waiting to have a slow store loaded? Probably not. You go and find a different way. That is what customers do too.
- A slow store means lost money.
- Even a one-second delay will decrease sales.
- Customers can never visit again in case of a negative experience.
That is why the speed should be considered as one of the most effective ways to expand your online store.
Step 1: Choose a Fast Hosting Service
Your hosting is your engine to your store. Having a weak engine means your store will be slow.
- Choose a hosting service which is fast and reliable.
- Avoid the cheapest hosting plans. There are chances that they can slow down when there are numerous visitors.
- Consider cloud hosting. It is quicker and is able to handle with heavier traffic.
Your store will have an excellent base of speed with the right hosting.
Step 2: Use a Lightweight Theme
The appearance of your store is determined by the theme. However, there are heavy and slow themes.
- Choose a simple, clean theme.
- Do not use too many animations in the theme.
- Demo versions Test prior to purchase or installation.
You can have a lightweight theme to ensure that your store loads quickly without losing style.
Step 3: Optimize Images
Images are important in online stores. Customers desire to know what they are purchasing. Big images can slow down your satore.
- Reduce size of images prior to their uploading.
- Use modern formats like WebP.
- Change the size of images to appropriate size.
Optimized pictures are fast to load as well as clear. This simplifies the process of shopping.
Step 4: Reduce Plugins and Apps
Many store owners place too many plugins or apps. While they add features, they can also slow down the site.
- Remove plugins you don t use.
- Only the most significant ones should be retained.
- Choose well coded applications of trusted developers.
Less is more. A clean store runs faster and has fewer problems.
Step 5: Use Content Delivery Network (CDN).
A CDN will enable your store to be loaded faster by customers in other locations.
- It stores copies of your site on world wide servers.
- Customers are connected to the nearest server.
- This decreases loading time no matter where they are.
In case, your store receives foreigners, a CDN is a necessity.
Step 6: Enable Caching
Caching is used to ensure that your store loads pages fast. The site does not reload everything, but instead stores some of the page to be used later on.
- Browsers caching stores files in the machine of the customer.
- Server caching makes your site faster on repeat visit.
- Many hosting companies provide in-built caching applications.
Caching has your store loaded in a few seconds, even when it is a large page.
Step 7: Minify Code
Your online store has code such like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Sometime this code is long and messy. Minifying make it shorter and quicker.
- Minimizing CSS and JavaScript.
- This can be automatically done by a large number of the plugins.
- Less code means faster speed.
It might be technical, but it is easy when one has the right tools.
Step 8: Optimize for Mobile
The majority of the shoppers use their phones. In case your store is slow on mobile, you will lose customers.
- Use a mobile-friendly theme.
- Check your store on different devices.
- Button and text should be easily tapped.
Quick mobile shop translates to a greater number of satisfied customers.
Step 9: Avoid Too Many Pop-ups
Pop-ups might prove to be helpful in email collection and showing offers. However, excessive pop-ups are going to slow your store.
- Keep pop-ups simple and light.
- Avoid heavy scripts.
- Use them only when needed.
This will make your store remain quick and easy to use.
Step 10: Monitoring speed on a regular basis.
Speed is not a something you fix once. You must check it often.
- Go to such tools as Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.
- Find out what is slowing down your store.
- Make changes when needed.
Check-ins maintain the speed and sales readiness of your store.
Here are some additional ideas to make your online store run faster
These are some of the additional little tips:
- Reduce home page scrolls and massive banners.
- Keep product pages simple.
- Use lazy loading for images.
- Program upgrade your platform and extensions.
- Avoid auto-playing videos.
Even the small steps steps contribute to great gains in the speed.
There are several positive aspects of a fast online store
When you speed up your online store, you will notice big changes:
- More customers stay and explore.
- Cart abandonment goes down.
- Sales increase naturally.
- Your brand appears more business-like.
- Ranking of search engines is enhanced.
A fast store is a friendly shopkeeper that greets any of his customers with a smile.
Final Thoughts
To achieve better sales, you need to concentrate on speed. slow Online store runs customers away. They are taken to a fast store and made to be happy.
With proper hosting, lightweight theme, image optimization and fewer unnecessary pluggers, you can make your shop significantly faster. Adding caching , CDNs, and frequent speed check will make it smooth in the longer run.
It is worth remembering that customers are fond of shopping in the stores that are conscious of their time.
In case you want the services of professionals to accelerate your online shop, you can work with professionals. The company is called Electro-Website Solutions in Calgary and it assists companies in establishing quicker, smarter and more prosperous online outlets. Through them, you are able to increase your sales and provide the customers with the best shopping experience.
