We all know that site speed is a pivotal part of online success. Whether you are committing to SEO, Pay Per Click, or any other online method of getting business, site speed can be the difference in retaining or losing a customer. It is becoming an increasingly important part of the Google algorithm and a crucial part of the user experience.
I recently worked together with a developer on one of my clients and found an almost immediate jump of over 40 points on the Google speed test just from a switch in hosting. Though not always the answer to speed issues, hosting can be a big part of it. Often speed problems can be attributed to the way you store image files and the template you choose to your website, and hosting won’t cause a huge difference. However, in some cases like this one, a change in hosting can lead to an enormous change.
Though I often use the Google speed test tool, Andrew Gioulis of KFR Communications, a developer I work with, showed me another tool that clearly states where your speed issues are coming from. If you are finding “server” to be the primary issue for many of your speed issues, you may want to look into better hosting. In this particular case, we went to wpengine, though this is not an advertisement for them. I actually looked at them for my own hosting a month or so back and had a bad experience with them. However, in this case, it did wonders. You can consider looking at them if you can be sure they, or your developer, like Andrew did, will lead you through the process. I didn’t find their tech support very helpful, and they won’t provide phone support with their basic plan.
Anyway, with speed so important, we were able to drive this web-site load scores on the Google test from the 30’s to the 70’s and 80’s without even doing anything other than the hosting shift. Pretty quick and easy way to have a giant boost in speed and probably a boost in rankings and conversion rate. As I mentioned, there are other things you can do such as image compression, etc. that the google speed tool will even point out to you.
In 2017, make sure you make speed a priority. Any little bit helps. If your hosting is causing the issue, look into getting a better hosting package with your current provider (probably easier) or moving to a better hosting company. It is better if you can find out before you move what kind of boost you may receive. Your developer can probably help you with that by running tests. Andrew did.
Good luck getting fast in 2017! If you need help, give us a call. Or if you are already fast, let us help get you found.
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