content posted in content  on 5 February 2009
by Andrew Lang 
View by Categories | View By Latest

Speed up your site

An interesting experiment conducted by Google shows users notice even half a second delay in page loads, and this results in a reduction in traffic and revenue by 20%:-

openquoteAfter a bit of looking, Marissa explained that they found an uncontrolled variable. The page with 10 results took .4 seconds to generate. The page with 30 results took .9 seconds.

Half a second delay caused a 20% drop in traffic. Half a second delay killed user satisfaction.
closequote

Not only is a fast loading site essential, your MESSAGE needs to be "fast loading". You need to get to the point quickly, and draw your visitor in without delay. Those first few seconds a website visitor scans across your site are vital ones. What is your site about? What can be done on your site? Can I buy stuff? What kind of price range are we looking at? Online, people are fickle. Imagine a party where you introduce yourself to someone and you immediately get into a detailed anecdote that has a really funny punchline, even though the lead up is a little ponderous. Incredibly this person tires of your anecdote and just walks away from you and chats with someone else. That's how your website visitors treat your site if they have to spend more than a few seconds to actually understand what they can GET from your site.

(see also an article I wrote a few years ago - Give It To Them Direct - which encouraged direct and concise use of language in your website copy)

Share this article:


view my profile on Google+