When you launched your handyman business, you may not have considered the importance of having a high-quality website. You just knew you had expert handyman services to offer your community.
But digital marketing plays a significant role in your ability to get and keep customers. And your website is a huge component of your digital marketing plan.
Many factors can make up a good website, and loading speed is one of the most crucial. Read on to learn the importance of website speed to your handyman site, then schedule handyman website design services with our experts.
Why Is Website Speed Important?
Your website speed affects many processes that make your website successful. A few of the most important include the following:
User Experience
Your website is the first impression you have on many potential customers. It needs to look its best to portray a positive image of your handyman business.
When a potential customer visits a slow website, their first impression is impacted. They may view your business as low-quality or behind the times. They may not even learn about your website at all because they choose to click away and find a different handyman business.
Unfortunately, slow website speed can even be stressful for users. You’ve probably felt frustrated and annoyed visiting a slow-loading website before. Maybe you continually refreshed the page to attempt to reach the destination faster.
When a slow load time leads users to leave your site prematurely, they won’t have the chance to learn what makes your handyman business great. First impressions are invaluable to your business, and you need to ensure that yours is top-tier.
Conversion Rate
Your website’s conversion rate is the rate at which users complete a specific action, such as calling your business or scheduling online services. Having a website with a slow loading speed can negatively affect your conversion rate.
Bidnamic US conducted a loading speed study to determine how speed impacts conversion rates. This organization found that for every second a site loads faster, conversion rates increase by 17%.
Your conversion rates can make the difference between gaining real customers through your website or losing prospects in the lead generation funnel.
Bounce Rate
Along with conversion rate, website speed can also impact bounce rate. This measure signifies the percentage of users who leave your website after only viewing one page.
Users may find your home page or service page after completing a Google search for “handyman near me.” But once they click on the page link, they find that your website loads too slowly to be worth their time.
Making it to the home page isn’t your end goal for users. You need them to find the information they’re looking for and schedule services with your handyman company.
Unfortunately, slow loading speeds can increase your bounce rate, driving more users away from your website — and, therefore, your business.
SEO
Website speed also impacts search engine optimization (SEO). Google uses numerous factors to determine which websites to display in search engine results, and website speed is one of those signals.
When your website has a slow loading speed, Google will assume it does not meet the user’s search query, as well as faster websites. As a result, your website may not rank very high in the search engine, making it less visible to potential customers looking for a handyman business.
How to Evaluate Your Website Speed
Identifying your website speed is an excellent place to start as you work to increase it.
Many online tools allow you to plug in your website URL and find out the page speed, overall site speed, and other metrics. We recommend using Google PageSpeed Insights.
Paste your website URL into the search bar, then click “Analyze.” You’ll see a full-page analysis of your loading speed, including scores for Performance, SEO, and more. You’ll also learn these metrics for both desktop and mobile devices.
Factors Affecting Website Speed
If your website speed is lacking, determining the source of the issue is your next step. Here are a few factors that affect website speed:
Page Weight
Your website’s page weight is the number of resources it needs to load. The more heavy elements you have on your website, like videos, JavaScript files, and high-resolution images, the slower your website will load.
The best way to adjust page weight is to replace heavy elements with light, small files. Keep the video content to a minimum and focus on a more minimalistic approach to your site design.
Hosting Location
Your website’s hosting location can also impact speed. Using a farther-away hosting center can slow down your page speed, while connecting to a closer hosting center can optimize speeds.
If your website host is located in Florida, users in California may need to wait an extra second or two while your page loads. Using multiple host locations for different page elements only serves to increase load time.
Network Conditions
Of course, each user’s network conditions can impact their browser speed, and thus, your website speed. For example, users connected to 3G or 4G internet typically have slower loading speeds compared to those on local WiFi.
While you can’t control a user’s network conditions, you can make changes to your website to optimize its speed for their network.
Final Thoughts
Website speed is a critical element of your website’s success, which contributes to your business profitability overall. If your handyman business is struggling with a slow website, you may be unsure how to proceed.
Thankfully, our experts at Handyman Marketing Pros have plenty of experience speeding up slow-moving websites. We know the best techniques to reduce your page weight and speed up user navigation.
We can also incorporate your website speed into your larger digital marketing plan. With our top-tier assistance, you’ll see more conversions, customers, and profits.
Contact our Handyman Marketing Pros today at 530-492-0223 to schedule your strategy call. Then check out our next blog post to learn the role of images in web design.
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