6 Ways To Fix Slow Loading Webpages

In this competitive digital environment, a fraction of a second counts when it comes to your loading speed. This means decreasing your loading speed from two seconds to one allows you to have a winning edge among your competitors. 

Additionally, your webpage’s loading speed plays a crucial role in determining whether a user will continue browsing your site. In terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), a webpage’s loading speed is an important factor to rank in the first pages of a search engine, allowing potential customers to see your website.

As you check out the post right here, you can gauge for yourself how a webpage’s loading speed matters. To help you out, here’s how you can fix slow loading webpages: 

1. Optimize Images

One of the most common reasons why a webpage takes too long to load is because of unoptimized images—images with large sizes. Since the file size is big, it may take a while for these types of images to load. Hence, uploading high-resolution images and then scaling them down will increase the size of your webpage, which will result in a slow-loading website. 

Moreover, also consider the image format. JPEG images are smaller in size compared to other image formats like GIFs or PNG. This means your webpage will load much faster if you use a JPEG image. 

 

2. Turn On Caching

When a user visits your site, there are elements stored in their cache. To put it simply, these elements are the ones responsible for the user’s browser to ‘memorize’ or ‘download’ the content on your site. Hence, a user won’t have to reload every content since it’s already stored in their cache; instead of a user re-downloading every resource in your site, they’ll only have to download a few of them, enhancing their experience.

This is the importance of turning on caching. To do so, you have to install the needed plugin if you’re using WordPress or any other CMS (Content Management System). These plugins allow you to enable caching certain elements of your site or even site-wide caching. 

 

3. Reduce Flash Content

Despite Flash being a great tool to add interactivity to your website, do note that it’s also one of the major contributors to a slow loading speed. This is because Flash content is, oftentimes, large in size. As mentioned earlier, the larger the size, the longer for it to load. 

Still, it doesn’t mean you have to forego Flash content. Instead, try reducing their sizes. If it’s unnecessary on your site, then it’s best if you eliminate it and replace it with an HTML5 alternative. 

 

4. Lessen Ads

Ads play a crucial role in generating revenue, yet they also contribute to a slow-loading webpage as they’re considered additional HTTP requests. Hence, just because it generates revenue doesn’t mean you should spam ads all over your webpage as it can affect your site’s user experience. 

Besides, ads would be futile if no users are browsing your site in the first place. However, you can only generate revenues if a user visits your site. As a solution, try limiting the number of ads displayed on your website.

 

5. Take Note Of Missing Files

If there are certain files missing on your webpage, it may result in longer loading times. This is because a missing file will result in an additional HTTP request just to find these. Eventually, if the files aren’t found, it’ll result in a 404 error, which will dismay web visitors, forcing them to go to your competitor’s site instead. 

There are plenty of reasons why files may be missing. Since it can be a hassle on your part or your team to find these, the best solution is to simply restore your site to the most recent backup. This way, you won’t have to experience downtime, which will equate to a loss in profit. 

 

6. Have A Clear Code

If you’re a non-experienced programmer, there’s a tendency you may write messy codes. This is especially true if you’re making plenty of customizations or even using a website builder. In the eyes of an experienced programmer, the code may have plenty of unnecessary breaks, spaces, lines, etc. The problem with this is a messy code can result in a slow-loading website. 

Minifying your code will help resolve this issue. This process will remove all unnecessary characters from your source code without changing the functionality. As a result, you’ll have a clear and succinct code, increasing your webpage’s loading speed. 

 

Takeaway

In addition to a poor website design, inconsistent branding, and out-of-date content, a webpage loading speed plays a crucial role in determining the success of your site. For one, it’ll have a major role in your SEO efforts. Second, visitors usually prefer sites loading fast, given that a user’s attention span is slowly decreasing when it comes to the digital space.

Hopefully, with the tips mentioned above, you can hasten your webpage’s loading speed, allowing you to gather more visitors.