Importance Of Website Speed For Mobile

Knowing the importance of website speed for mobile may be the difference between readers finding your website or not even being a blip on the internet search radar.

What Is Site Speed?

Before we go any further, we need to know what website speed actually is.

The speed with which a browser can load fully functional webpages from a given site is referred to as website performance or site speed.

Digital And Mobile Devices Today And Beyond

Can you name 3 people that you know who do NOT have a mobile phone?

It is no surprise that you are not able to do so. We are well into the 21st century, and 90% of the world’s population has a mobile device.

Can you think of 3 things that we do on our mobile devices?

Well, I bet you guessed that one right.

• shopping
• searching the web
• playing (lots of) games

When you consider the above, site speed is definitely a ranking factor. Google monitors every page of your website so every page needs to be speed optimised.

Over 80% of internet users use a mobile device to surf the web.

Only 50% of websites use responsive web design techniques that can work for all devices.

As a business owner, you cannot overlook the mobile industry.

It was not long ago that, on average, people spent over an hour on their phones.

But now that has risen to more than 5 hours per day!! (As most families can attest to)

Statistics show that at least 70% of web traffic comes from a mobile device. This is due to iPhone and Android innovations, which have changed the mobile market drastically.

What Is The Importance Of Website Speed For Mobile Devices?

User Experience Counts

A staggering 61% of mobile users would never return to a website if it were too slow or not mobile-friendly.

Mobile users claim that they are most likely to buy a product from companies that have an easy-to-navigate mobile site.

If a first visit met expectations, a high majority of customers are likely to buy products.

60% of mobile users are less likely to purchase from an unfriendly mobile user site after having a negative experience.

Speed Is A Users First Impression Of A Website

Think about it. Would you, as a mobile user, stay on a website that takes more than five seconds to load?

A website should ideally load within two to three seconds, if not faster, to meet the Google page speed ranking factor.

This is where something called the “bounce rate” comes in.

A bounce rate refers to the percentage of users who don’t view a single page or more than one page before leaving a website.

It is common for users to close the window or leave the website when the web page does not load within a few seconds.

People who use mobile devices are generally fast-paced buyers. Thus the buyers’ journey should be faultless.

Any divergence from this expectation will result in a decline in your mobile web traffic and sales.

Happy buyers recommend their positive experiences. Positive recommendations increase sales by nearly 90%.

Remember, “a positive experience for a customer is repaid by loyalty”.

Related Post: Google Reviews Importance

Speed Means Conversions

The old saying, “every second counts,” rings true. Load time is very significant when it comes to website conversions.

A one-second delay in website responsiveness has shown that it can reduce your site conversion rate by 7%.

More than 53% of your site visitors would have left your homepage if it took more than 3 seconds to load.

So, let me break it down for you in money terms.

If your site generates a sale total of £1,000 per day, a one-second delay is reduced by 7%, you will lose about £70 per day.

You think this does not sound like a lot.

But if you work that out over a year, you will lose £25,550.

That is definitely a considerable loss to your business intake.

In addition to this, the competitive gap will grow wider if your competitor has a better site and page speed than you.

In short, speed equals money.

We All Expect Fast Websites

People in this day and age lead such busy lifestyles now and want information fast. The average attention span for humans has dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds.

Nearly 70% of people say that download speed influences their decision to make a purchase.

Particularly for a business, this is why website speed is important.

Factors Affecting Speed

Some websites are actually bigger than they need to be, so it is important to factor in the size of your desired page.

The average website page size is 1.88MB. But the average recommended size is under 500 KB.

Obviously, it does depend on what your page is about.

You may need tables, charts, maps, and other graphic images to enhance useability.

Additionally, an e-commerce website requires many product images, so it will be much larger than a travel blog page with just a couple of photos.

Some websites are slow simply because they have:

• multiple pages of archives lugging them down
• large images
• multiple plugins
• apps that have not been updated in years

There are, however, very few websites that are willing to make serious changes to reduce or adjust their content to accommodate a quick download speed.

Recommended Reading: How Often Should I Redesign My Website?

Speed Affects SEO

Because Google prioritises sending relevant information to consumers as quickly as possible, site performance is a significant element in Google search rankings.

The performance of a website on mobile devices is very crucial for SEO.

Website speed is vital for more than just your target audience (although that is probably the most important reason).

The speed of your website is also a ranking factor for Google.

As a result, if you want your website to show in Google search results, you will need to raise your game and ensure that your website’s loading speed is good enough.

Perform a speed test to see where you stand, and if your website is taking too long to load, construct a faster site.

Conclusion

Google is now responsible for at least 96% of all search traffic coming from mobile devices.

As of 2020, Google was processing 40,00 000 searches per second, which equates to roughly 3.5 billion searches per day.

Your business counts when it comes to speed and ensuring you are in the number one position.

This is why website speed matters – it elevates your ranking potential.

Mobile phones are now very much part of our lives and, in some cases, are pretty much glued to our hands!!

Knowing the statistics of internet traffic along with good, practiced SEO, it is clear to see why it is vital that your website is fast loading. And not only on desktop – but on all mobile devices too.

Being mobile-friendly is becoming more necessary – the entire world is definitely moving into the digital arena. And websites must keep up with modern standards.

It could very well save you £25,550 a year!!