How Page Load Impacts Ecommerce Websites

When building your e-commerce website for the best user experience, one of the first things you should test is the page load speed.

Your website’s page load times can give you an edge over the competition or just push you over the edge. The quicker your web pages load, the happier your customers will be. Customers tend to be intolerant of slow page loads. 

If it takes too long, chances are they will leave and never come back. Here are some numbers to ponder:

• 47% of customers expect web pages to load in 2 seconds or less (the average e-commerce site is about 4 times that).
• 57% of visitors will leave your site if load times are longer than 3 seconds.
• 80% of those visitors will never revisit your site.
• 44% of those will tell their friends about their bad experience.

 So how does page load impact e-commerce websites? Read on to learn more. 

What Slows Down Page Load Times?

Many factors can cause slow page loads, such as media, caching, redirecting, and source code, to name just a few.

Media

• The time it takes to load images and videos can dramatically slow page load times, especially if they are linked to external sources.
• Large, bulky images take longer to load.
• The number of images can be a factor as well. Too many images will cause a lot of CSS requests which will increase load times.

No Browser Caching

Caching stores frequently used data on your customer’s memory. Each website has components that stay the same on all webpages such as images and stylesheets, and they can be saved in visitors’ browsers for future use.

Your site will load faster with browser caching enabled because it won’t have to retrieve those components from the server every time a customer visits your site or moves from one webpage to another.

Redirecting

When your site redirects from a landing page, it will increase the page load time which translates to customers impatiently waiting with their credit card in hand.

Source Code

Of course, you want to create a good user experience on your e-commerce site. But, providing these experiences requires adding additional elements such as stylesheets, images, and videos. Consider that each of these elements consumes resources on your users’ CPU, memory, and network which affect page load times.

When your site’s source code is sloppy or contains unnecessary elements, it delays page loading. Therefore, it is important to make scripts as small and as lean as possible.

How Does Page Load Effect Conversion Rate?

• When a visitor leaves a website and never comes back, that means it is a failed conversion. With page loading speed being one of the main reasons that visitors abandon a website, reducing page load times is crucial to getting customers to convert.
  
• A 1-second delay in page load equals a 7% loss in conversions.
• An ecommerce site making $50,000 per day could lose $1.25 million in sales each year just from a 1-second page load delay. 
• Conversion rates increase 74% when page load times improve from 8 to 2 seconds.

How Are Google Rankings Impacted?

When visitors bounce from your site because they got tired of waiting for a page to load, it doesn’t matter how well constructed your site design. The accumulation of these types of quick exits increases the bounce rate.

Page load speed is an official ranking factor in Google’s algorithm. Google interprets bounces as a sign that your content is of low quality or relevance and will move you down in the search results.

The impact to your e-commerce site translates to less organic traffic, fewer conversions, and a lack of SEO rankings.

At Meticulosity, you will find a team of dedicated experts in digital marketing. To find out how we can help improve your e-commerce site’s performance, contact us today to schedule a free consultation!