Why is it better to hire a web design company in Los Angeles to perform a website audit? Why should you spend your hard-earned money to find problems you can’t see?
Well, look at it this way:
- Did you know most errors are invisible?
- Do you know how fast your website loads?
Have you ever even thought about it? If not, then you should seriously consider it, starting now. Your site’s page speed matters much more than you might think.
Here are a few website statistics that you should think about:
-
About 40% of users leave a web page that takes more than three seconds to load.
-
When an image doesn’t load or takes too long, 39% of people stop engaging with your site.
-
62% of companies that designed responsive mobile websites increased their sales. Additionally, 64% of companies that adapted their websites for tablets also improved their sales.
-
A one-second delay in your site’s page response could result in a 7% reduction in conversion rates.
-
A slow-loading site is more likely to rank poorly in search results.
Do you find these statistics surprising? So do many business owners out there when confronted with reality. So, don’t worry (too much), you’re not alone. It’s precisely for this reason that you should consider planning and implementing highly effective strategies that increase your site’s page speeds and overall performance. An excellent web development company in Los Angeles can offer an easy solution and help you understand the process. Before you search for a web development company that suits your needs, here is a look at some of the work involved in increasing your page speed.
1. Image Compression, Sizing, and Optimization
Based on the above statistics, 40% of your traffic will disappear into thin air if your images take too long to load or fail to load completely. So that is never a good thing. The first thing any good web developer would suggest is that you optimize your images.
Here is what is involved in this process:
-
You are reducing the number of images on your site so it is manageable (not heavy). These images include those in your admin but may not be displayed on the front end of your site.
-
Your images’ file size should be reduced so they are much smaller (Megabytes) and more suitable for web display. Moreover, this should be done without compromising the standard image resolution, 72 dpi.
-
Sizing your images before you upload ensures that when they are published, they are shown in actual 100% size and not shrunk or expanded by the browser.
Remember, the more images you have and the larger the file size, the longer they load. Therefore, reducing the number of images to only relevant ones (with fixed pixel sizes) and using a photo optimization plugin to reduce the file size makes them much easier and faster to load. While you may need to learn how to select the right images to display or edit the selected photos, a reputable company in the website optimization business will know how to help you.
2. Installing Performance-Enhancing Plugins Compatible With The Existing Code
Plugins extend your site’s functionality and can improve the user experience. Most smart website owners use them for customization purposes. However, they can also cause problems… The plugins you use on your site can cause your pages to load very slowly or conflict with other plugins or code. The more plugins you have, the slower your site may become. We have already established that slow-loading code is terrible for your site and business’ bottom line.
How would a professional recommend what to do? Here are a few suggestions you may have to implement:
-
We are limiting the number of plugins as much as possible. Ideally, you should have less than 10-15 for maximum performance.
-
Remove plugins that you do not need. What’s the point of keeping them if you do not use them?
-
Turn off plugins you do not use regularly and only turn them on when needed.
-
You are utilizing plugins that help boost your site’s overall performance as part of your 10 to 15 options. If Web development companies point you in the right direction, they can show you the most relevant plugins to increase page speeds. Examples of good plugins include caching plugins that improve web speeds. They include WP Super Cache, WP Rocket, WP Total Cache, and many more.
3. Code Optimization, Compression, And Reprioritization
Please consider an experienced web design company. Los Angeles has several of them. But before you make your final decision, please look at the solutions each SEO agency proposes concerning code optimization, compression, and reprioritization. Statistics show that 94% of internet users judge your website based on its responsiveness. There is no way around that! When you think about it, your site’s performance depends on the code used in the back-end/admin. Also, some of them, like JavaScript, can take a while to load fully. In the meantime, you can see your impatient website visitors look elsewhere.
Once you have found the right company, they can utilize several strategies to optimize your code. These may include:
-
Using code to replace a plug-in where possible
-
You are programming a page to load the above-the-fold section first. Meanwhile, the below-the-fold part continues to load slowly in the background. That ensures your site visitors can interact much faster with what they can view first.
-
Minimizing and combining the CSS and JavaScript will result in fewer-loaded files.
4. Page Speed Testing And Optimization
Before you invest in hiring the best web design company in Los Angeles, finding out how quickly (or slowly) your page speeds are would be more helpful. Only then can you determine if you need help? The firm you call can help you decide which page speed optimization methods should be used first. There are several online tools that you can use to check your web page speed. Most are capable of providing reports that enable you to optimize them properly. One tool that is worth checking out is Google Pagespeed Insights. Since Google created the tool, you must pay close attention to its audit.
How Does Google Pagespeed Insights Work?
Google PageSpeed Insights analyzes your website performance across desktop and mobile devices. You then receive suggestions on how to improve the page. You can look first for the performance score based on a 1-100 scale, with 100 being the best. If the score is over 90, it’s considered fast, and average if it is between 50 and 90. Anything below that, and your web page is considered slow. That means it’s in desperate need of professional web development intervention. Achieving a score of 90+ is a challenging task.
Some take a few hours, and others can take months to get a score of 100. Sadly, many can’t score well without a complete site rebuild. Google PageSpeed Insights tests the server configuration, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and all files delivered to a browser and the structure. That said, it’s instrumental in giving you the basic idea of how well your site functions. Other off-site tools that you can use for page speed testing include GT Matrix, Pingdom tools, Yslow, and WebPage Test for load time testing and performance analysis.
We use many of the above and an on-site plugin library from WPMU DEV. This plugin has a full suite that continuously notifies you of everything regarding your site’s performance, SEO, image optimization, and security, and even offers a CDN. It’s what was used to achieve that 100 score above.
Your site can then benefit from the optimization strategies below, many discussed in the above points. Here is a summary:
-
Installation of caching plugins to enhance web page speeds
-
Changing web page hosts: You may need to pay more to access higher-quality web hosts that are much faster than what you currently have.
-
Minimization of HTTP requests – the fewer the requests your site sends to a server, the faster it is likely to be
-
Image optimization – this includes the mentioned compression and reduction of file size.
-
Web page compression via web caching and server caching
-
Using Content Delivery Networks (CDN)
-
Minimization, combining, and optimization of JavaScript and CSS
5. Comprehensive Site Audit And Testing
More is needed to run a report. I would like you to have experience in understanding how to solve each problem. It’s best to invest in a comprehensive site audit and testing service. Find the best SEO company that can help with web design and development. SEO is not just about keywords and backlinks. You need all the professional help you can get to use expensive SEO audit tools like SEMrush. While you may be able to access some of its reports free of charge, they are limited in scope. Reading and understanding the report you generate can be difficult for most and impossible for others.
Furthermore, a reputable SEO company helps you to audit your entire site and check for errors. It pays to have a professional inform you of critical areas to fix so your site can function correctly. It’s easy to think you can do it alone, but it isn’t sure that you’ll succeed. There’s a lot at stake if you don’t understand what you’re doing well. You can lose your rank quite quickly if you make a mistake. Gaining it back is an uphill battle. That, in turn, can result in lower conversions and ROI. Therefore, it pays to invest in a reputable professional optimization firm. It makes a world of difference and helps you with the learning curve.
We can create a site audit report, analyze its overall performance, and then implement highly effective strategies to make it load faster and perform at its best. Many clients choose a Los Angeles development firm with extensive experience solving page speed issues.
