Please excuse the underwhelming title… we thought it best to get straight to the point.

Hello again, it’s so nice to see you back - and if you are just tuning in, welcome. In our last article, we discussed the basics of the mean stack and how it greatly improves website load times. As promised, we will be elaborating on that in this page.

Load speed plays a huge role in your website’s overall performance in many ways; some that might seem obvious and some that are less so, but before we get into those let’s explore briefly the factors that determine a website’s load speed.

• Website theme or custom design – Complex design often means complex coding which can really drag down load speeds, so it is better to opt for cleaner designs with the most updated and concise coding. (This is where the mean stack from the previous article comes into play)
  
  
• Sliders and image sizes – When images are too big, they consume a lot of bandwidth to load. Images that are too small appear pixilated and reflect poorly on the overall design. It is best to size images exactly for the spot they will be displayed on the site with a resolution of 72-96dpi. Sliders are included in this section because they hold multiple images in one space – again with code, so if a slider is a must-have, it is best to only have one of them on the page.
  
  
• Hosting and content delivery networks – Where you choose to host your website makes a difference. Their performance determines your site’s performance, so choose wisely. source
  
  
• Internet speed – There is nothing developers can do to affect this factor, but luckily internet speeds are picking up all over the world thanks to higher demand and newer developments in the field.

How fast a website loads sets the tone for the visitor’s entire experience on the site. If a site loads quickly, the visitor will likely not notice and happily continue their search through the site. On the flip side however, it becomes very noticeable when a site does not load quickly, which sets a negative first impression and harms the user experience often to the point where they leave the site all together. No one wants that.

Seamlessness is the goal. When that is achieved it promotes a great user experience and reduces the frustration of waiting. Online shoppers and web users in general are increasingly impatient and will not wait more than a few seconds before they get annoyed and bale on the site entirely. Raise your hand if you are one of them. 🖐️ I mean, who has a spare 5 seconds anymore, amirite?

Case and point, a properly fast-loading site secures higher conversion rates and keeps your fast-paced visitor base happy. That is the more obvious reason to have a fast loading website.

Que the less obvious reason. The other major benefit of a fast loading site is the effect on its SEO. It might seem odd that load times effect SEO but Google has been using that as part of their ranking criteria since 2010. The reason for this ties right back to the latter point; they know that user experience depends heavily on speedy load times and therefore still view it as a valuable ranking metric.

To briefly review, why does site speed matter so much?

• Keep. Fast-paced. Customers. Happy.
• To stay way up on those search results. SEO benefits baby!

Keeping up with the latest tech trends is bar none the best way to stay on top of your website performance in general. This time we talked about website speed in the wake of the mean stack release. Next time we will expand even further into the many facets of the User Experience, and why that should be a top priority for your dealership website. Thanks again for stickin’ with us. See you next time.