{"id":907,"date":"2017-08-29T19:48:59","date_gmt":"2017-08-29T19:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siteuptime.com\/?p=907"},"modified":"2017-08-29T19:48:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T19:48:59","slug":"4-tips-for-e-retail-sites-to-keep-page-load-speeds-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siteuptime.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/29\/4-tips-for-e-retail-sites-to-keep-page-load-speeds-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Tips for E-Retail Sites to Keep Page Load Speeds Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

E-Retail is all about speed and convenience.<\/p>\n

There’s no easier way to ensure your business fails before it even gets off the ground than by neglecting the need for speed.<\/p>\n

Page load time is the all-important factor here. If it takes too long, customers will navigate away from your page — and probably head over to your competition to make their purchase.<\/p>\n

This won’t just cost you sales, it will also cause your site to fall in search engine rankings.<\/p>\n

Ready to make some changes?<\/p>\n

Keep reading to learn how to make it happen.<\/p>\n

Importance of E-Retail Website Performance<\/h2>\n

According to a study<\/a> done by Akamai, 47% of people expect that it should only take two seconds for a website to load.<\/p>\n

Website performance impacts not only the user experience, but also your SEO rankings as determined by Google. Search engines\u00a0also measure the responsiveness and overall time it takes to a site load content.<\/p>\n

As users expect faster service, websites are becoming faster than before<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You need to find a way to stay ahead of website optimization.<\/p>\n

Little Cindy isn’t going to care why it’s taking so long to load the\u00a0size 2 shoe<\/a> she wants, she’ll simply give up and go to another e-retail shop.<\/p>\n

These are four ways you can improve page speed and website performance.<\/p>\n

1. Use Webpage Compression<\/h2>\n

When you have an e-retail website with lots of high-quality pictures, the average size of each page can easily run upwards of 1 MB.<\/p>\n

This is a great way to keep your website moving at a glacial pace.<\/p>\n

You should be using compression via Gzip. 90% of all major websites use Gzip. It’s similar in concept to Zip files you see used for photo albums or other big file collections.<\/p>\n

Less bandwidth used means faster page response times — and that means happier customers and higher conversion rates.<\/p>\n

2. Optimize Above-The-Fold Content<\/h2>\n

By quickly loading the top half or third of your page, you can present your e-retail store’s most important navigational elements in an instant, while the rest gets loaded in a few seconds later.<\/p>\n

This is a simple trick on the eyes, where you perceive everything to be faster because your focus starts at the top.<\/p>\n

3. Fewer Redirects<\/h2>\n

More HTTP requests means more time spend waiting for information. It should be your priority to reduce redirects for mobile phone users.<\/p>\n

You should be using an HTTP redirect service that sends mobile phone users directly to your responsive mobile pages — without any redirects.<\/p>\n

Site Uptime<\/a> can help you identify whether or not you’re getting the best page loading speeds, beyond doing the ol’ “eyeball” tests.<\/p>\n

4. Minimize HTTP Requests<\/h2>\n

It is important to optimize how your E-Retail page is organized based on images, scripts, and style sheets.<\/p>\n

You can improve on this by:<\/p>\n