A Guide to 5 Things That Affect Site Performance

Experiencing low traffic on your website? Find the underlying cause of the issue and see where your site needs improving. Never write off low traffic or bad conversion rates as lost causes. It’s up to you to optimize your site and achieve the numbers your company needs to thrive, not just survive. The power to control your website performance is in your hands. If you notice subpar site performance right after launching or months later, the problem could be one of the five following factors.

1. Slow Site

Page load speed is a top Google priority. With the release of half a dozen speed-related tools, Google made it clear that site speed is at the top of the list for desirable website traits. Don’t let a slow website ruin your ranking. Optimize speed by recognizing what impacts download times and eliminating potential drains on speed, such as large image file sizes, too many plugins, or an unreliable website host.

2. Lack of SEO

If you’re not appearing in the top five positions on the Google search engine results pages (SERP) – or even on the first page at all – you could have a search engine optimization (SEO) problem. SEO is the key to high page rank. If you’re experiencing bad search results, focus on SEO. Optimize your site in terms of speed, content, keyword usage, link building, and regular page updates to improve undesirable search results and improve website visibility.

3. Bugs and Site Issues

Bugs are some of the major things that could negatively impact site performance. Lots of bugs, security breaches, data leaks, viruses, and major problems such as site crashes can demolish your website performance and lead to an unusable site. The best way to tackle these issues and optimize your site performance is by outsourcing website management. Trusting professional developers can give you the tools you need to resist bugs and provide an easy-to-use site.

4. Broken Links

Links are vital to your overall website ranking and performance. Loss of internal and external pages linking to your site, your website losing inbound links, or failed link building could all negatively impact site performance. Give your links a health checkup and see where there may be room for improvement.

5. Outdated Site Design

Poor performance may also stem from an outdated website. If you haven’t done a website overhaul, significant redesign, or at least kept up with updates over the last few years, odds are high your site has an outdated look or low usability score. Today’s users want fast, optimized websites that are in line with current design best practices. Your site should be mobile-first, with high-quality images and/or videos that don’t reduce speed. Updating your website could be all you need for ideal site performance.

Curious about how to improve your site performance? Reach out to an expert at Forix to learn more.