The world is talking about speed of eCommerce websites and optimization of these websites for the same purpose. But is it really that important? And why specifically should you prepare your eCommerce site for this? This blog has it all for you. Just stick with it.
Before we start, let’s see what stats have to say about the performance of e-commerce websites. Typically, e-commerce website visits convert into sales only about 1.94% to 2.86% of the time. This low conversion rate highlights the difficulties that businesses encounter when it comes to converting visitors into paying clients.
If it takes longer than 3 seconds for a website to load, 40% of people who purchase online will leave a website. A significant 80% of users find a slow-loading website more frustrating than one that is temporarily down. The numbers don’t lie, and therefore these numbers do reveal why eCommerce website speed optimization is of extreme importance.
A quick look at why your site is slow
If you are beating your head to know why your website is slow, then look at the points below. We will not talk about the reasons in detail as this blog is meant for it;however, a quick look will not harm us.
- Large Image Files
- Inefficient Code
- Excessive Plugins or Themes
- Lack of Caching
- Database Inefficiencies
- Poor Hosting
Some of the best e-commerce website optimization techniques
We’ll discuss how these strategies can transform your overall e-commerce experience and position you to generate the desired revenue following the specific approaches that will help you achieve your objectives with ease.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Let’s first start with CDN which stands for content delivery network or content distribution network.
By distributing content delivery among the closest webservers, a CDN speeds up the local user experience. It duplicates these files from the target website and stores them on its web servers after activation. Once individuals from different places visit your e-commerce store, all information would now be drawn from the nearest server, thus making the site load more quickly.
Limit the page size
The size is another important aspect that you just can’t skip. To ensure fast load times, it’s important to keep page sizes small. There are several factors on which the overall size of an ecommerce website’s performance depends:
- Number of images included
- Number of CSS and HTML files
- Number of scripts used
- All other media on the page
So, what are some ways you can use to reduce the size of the page? Have a look:
- Remove unused plugins, scripts, and fonts
- Optimize images
- Merge CSS and JS files
- Minify CSS, JS, and HTML
- Use browser caching
- Enable compression
- Load JS files asynchronously
Cut Down HTTP Requests
The greater the number of HTTP requests your site receives, the longer it will take for the requested page to load. An excessive amount of HTTP requests can negatively impact your key performance metrics and your online visibility. There are two approaches to identifying these unnecessary requests: first, by determining how many requests you’re dealing with, and second, by evaluating your website’s performance.
However, you cannot eliminate all requests since it’s essential to provide the necessary features on the frontend. Here’s what you can do instead:
- Delete unnecessary images
- Remove pointless videos.
- Activate lazy load
- Implement Content Caching
- Minimize third-party requests
- Eliminate unnecessary plug-ins
- Swap heavy plug-ins for lighter alternatives
- Compress the file size of remaining images
This will aid in optimizing your eCommerce performance and enhance your e-commerce websites and stores.
Click the pause button for too many Pop-Ups
Too much of anything is harmful, and so is the case with pop-ups. There are no two ways about how pop-ups are an effective way for recovering unnoticed carts and urging users to make the purchase. You can also use these pop-ups on your eCommerce site to offer discount codes, voice out for subscriptions, or give information about the new sale. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you should slot in numerous pop-ups on your eCommerce site.
In case you aren’t able to handle them, they can negatively impact the performance of your e-commerce platform. It can disrupt the customer experience, ultimately creating an additional challenge in the customer acquisition process. Apart from reducing the loading speed of the e-commerce website, it annoys the customers by repeatedly appearing. In short, pop-ups should be used judiciously and only when you’re confident they will be beneficial for your sales.
Combine JavaScript and CSS Files
When it comes to speeding up your e-commerce website, merging your JavaScript and CSS files can create a notable impact. By consolidating several files into one, you decrease the number of HTTP requests that your site has to make. This simplification can result in quicker load times and enhanced overall performance.
Here’s why this is important:
- Fewer HTTP requests lead to reduced waiting time for resources to load
- Merged files are often simpler for browsers to cache
- It simplifies your site’s structure, making management easier
To apply this optimization strategy, you can use tools like Webpack or Gulp, which automate the process of merging and minifying your files. Keep in mind that while combining files is advantageous, it’s important to avoid creating overly large files that could hinder initial page load times.
Minify JavaScript and CSS files
The speed of your Domain Name System (DNS) is critical to the overall performance of your e-commerce website. DNS functions like the internet’s phonebook, converting human-friendly domain names into IP addresses that computers can interpret.
A sluggish DNS can introduce avoidable delays to your site’s loading time. To enhance your DNS speed:
- Select a dependable DNS provider with a strong reputation for speed and reliability
- Implement DNS prefetching for external domains that your website frequently visits
- Think about using a DNS caching service to shorten lookup durations
You can employ tools like DNSPerf or Pingdom to evaluate your existing DNS speed and contrast it with other providers. Keep in mind, even slight enhancements in DNS resolution time can result in noticeable improvements in site speed for your e-commerce site.
Choose Asynchronous Loading
Asynchronous loading is a method that can greatly enhance the perceived load time of your e-commerce website. Instead of each element loading one after another, asynchronous loading permits multiple files to load at the same time.
Here’s why it’s advantageous:
- It avoids render-blocking, enabling visible content to load first
- Users can engage with the page more quickly
- It enhances the overall user experience, especially on slower connections
To implement asynchronous loading:
- Use the ‘async’ attribute for external scripts that aren’t dependent on other scripts
- Apply the ‘defer’ attribute for scripts that can wait to run until after the page has fully loaded
- Consider using asynchronous loading for non-essential CSS using JavaScript
Make use of hosting that is both reliable and fast
Your hosting provider might be a possible cause of speed-related issues. While there are various factors that can lead to slow performance, such as the location of your provider, their physical infrastructure, and the total bandwidth of their network, the kind of web hosting that your site employs can also affect its performance.
Available hosting options that you can consider include:
- Shared hosting: This can particularly lead to issues if your site experiences traffic spikes or a steady flow of high traffic.
- VPS hosting: It divides services effectively on a shared physical drive to improve performance, but if resource demands increase, it may still experience speed issues.
- Dedicated servers: While dedicated servers cost more than shared or VPS alternatives, they will greatly enhance your speed.
What kind of hosting and server you choose for your online store should rely on its size and needs. Small websites with low traffic might do well with shared hosting. While dedicated servers are usually the best choice for high-traffic eCommerce.
Use Caching Technology
Caching technologies are commonly used for enhancing the speed of eCommerce websites to improve page load speed times. By using this technology, you can prevent unnecessary database access since these solutions store all customer details, product catalogs, site search indices, and additional information locally. This technology uses the available RAM on a server, and because input and output operations are quicker, it aids in eCommerce optimization.
Caching enables browsers to pre-load some of your content, which accelerates webpage loading. Most CMS platforms will automatically cache the latest versions of your site, but you can also extend this caching duration through CMS settings. This is particularly advantageous for content that doesn’t change frequently on your site, such as JavaScript files, stylesheets, downloadable files, logos, and static images.
Don’t Forget to Optimize Your E-Commerce Website
Now, if you don’t want your e-commerce store to shut down, follow these easy and direct tips shared above to optimize ecommerce website. This will improve your website speed and enhance the customer experience. And not to forget the sales that come with it. Another thing you need to keep in mind is regularly optimizing it. If not, then that can result in losing customers. In case you are unable to handle these tasks, don’t hesitate for the experts’ help.
With the help of Cuneiform Consulting, you can notice an increase in your e-commerce website speed, heightened safety, and improved performance. These changes will improve your profitability rates, which is exactly why you landed on this page.
