Page load speed has always been an important factor in determining the quality of the user experience and the search ranking that a site can achieve. This is why seeking web design in London or across the country could give you the advantage, as experts in optimisation will make sure that your pages are not sluggish in the slightest.
The problem that many companies are facing today is that more of their potential customers are browsing the web via a smartphone or tablet, meaning that they are reliant on a wireless connection of some kind to get online. People are getting increasingly picky about page load speed to the point that the difference between success and failure is measured in milliseconds.
Slower connection speeds, higher traffic and bad coverage can all cause issues with site performance for mobile visitors. While much of this is out of the control of webmasters, there are some steps that can be taken to make sure that pages load quickly even when limited network resources are available to users.
Image optimisation
Even when dealing with devices that have smaller screens, images are important in making sure that websites are engaging for mobile and desktop users alike. Poorly optimised images can bring page load speeds to their knees.
Make sure that you not only compress images so that the files are smaller and thus load quicker but also select the type most appropriate for a particular purpose. JPEGs are still the standard for photographs, but for graphics and interface items use PNGs for added efficiency.
Hardware decisions
While this may be out of your hands, optimising server performance so that the response time is minimised can be a huge help when it comes to page load speeds in the mobile age; in fact, things may be getting easier in the future thanks to projects such as Google’s recently announced Accelerated Mobile Pages.
This is where professional agencies can be beneficial, since advice on all technical aspects of your site can be provided by experts like a Web Design Yorkshire company found at sites including etempa.co.uk.
Also consider leveraging a CDN (content distribution network) so that your site is hosted in multiple geographic locations, catering to users with quick load speeds no matter where they are based.
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