Are you looking for ways to speed up your website? If so, you're not alone. Many websites suffer from slow loading times, which can be incredibly frustrating for users and lead to a decrease in traffic. In this blog post, we'll cover 10 factors that could be slowing down your website loading speed and how to fix them.
Unoptimized Photos
One of the most common culprits of a slow loading web page is unoptimized photos. When uploading high-resolution images (which is always advised) and then scaling them down, it causes your web page size to increase significantly and thus take longer to load. To combat this issue, use JPEG images as opposed to PNG or GIF files since they have smaller file sizes - never use files that have a file size of 1 MB or more! Additionally, there are websites available online that will analyze any link and tell you where slowdowns may be coming from if you're curious about testing your site's speed.
JavaScript Issues
JavaScript is great for plugins but if not used correctly can actually hurt your website's loading speed instead of helping it. To avoid potential problems with JavaScript plugins audit them regularly or contact us for our web design services.
Flash Content
Flash content was popular in the past but has become outdated over time due its slower speeds when compared with HTML5 content - this could be causing your website to load slowly. To fix this issue, either perform an audit of all Flash content on the site or switch over completely to HTML.
HTTP Requests
If there are too many JavaScripts, CSS stylesheets, and images on one page it can cause an overload on requests sent from the browser which slows down the entire process significantly - try using Sprites instead which reduces HTTP requests by combining multiple images into one image file! Additionally consider pairing down all files including images, JavaScripts & CSS stylesheets as much as possible without compromising quality/functionality.
Not Caching
Caching helps store data so at later requests they load faster taking some burden off the server so it doesn't have to process information multiple times - enable browser/HTTP caching & server-side caching ASAP for improved site speeds.
Cluttered Code
Excessive styling & whitespace can cause unclean code which increases page size leading directly into slower load times - remove these unnecessary things whenever possible & compress code almost always.
Not Zipping Files
gZIP compression allows users compress file sizes like those found in large objects such as images/CSS/JavaScript making them easier (and faster!) for browsers requesting information from servers - enable gZIP compression ASAP if haven't already done so already!
Too Many Ads
Ads are great sources of extra revenue but having too many ads means more HTTP requests especially when dealing with media-rich display ads - reduce clutter & improve site speeds by reducing number of ads displayed whenever possible without sacrificing revenue goals, obviously. ;)
Not Using CDN Service
A CDN service is basically a network made up independent servers located in different geographic locations designed specifically deploy information quickly based on user location closest server available at time request made – using CDN service will dramatically improve overall site speed.
Bad Hosting Service
If all else fails bad hosting service could also be causing issues – try switching hosts company provides optimized speeds within their hosting bundle.