Running a business usually means getting all the help you can get and reaching out to as many customers as possible.
But once you do reach them, they need to be happy with the service or a product that you are offering. And you wouldn’t believe how important customer satisfaction is, and all the ways it can impact your business. That means that every touch point you have with your customer is of the utmost importance.
Nowadays, customer contact isn’t done face to face, at least not most of the time. You can teach your staff to be polite, reward them for good customer feedback and promote based on merit, but it won’t be worth a lot if your digital presence is faulty.
The rapid technological growth has brought out the impatient side of human nature. We want it all and we want it now. If we are trying to attract potential customers, donors or partners, the first thing they will notice is our website. And the first thing they will not find remotely attractive and inviting is how slow it is. Why does this happen and how can we fix it?
It’s All about the Server!
If you want to start looking for a problem, start from the beginning. When it comes to loading a web page, the first thing that happens is a ping to the server. And perhaps that is exactly what is happening with your website. One thing that could be causing problems is server performance.
It simply takes way too much time to respond. Regardless of how fast everything else is, a slow server will be the death of your website, meaning less traffic, fewer potential customers, less revenue… You get the picture.
Another issue with the server can be its location. Even in the digital world, information has to travel the physical distance. If you are opening a website in the United States, a server located in Spain might take that extra second to load. Although this might not be your biggest problem, it is definitely not helping. Considering getting a closer, better server and save yourself a lot of trouble.
Work with Your Developers or Hire Better Ones
As a business owner, there are a lot of big IT words you probably don’t recognise – dense code, plugins, JavaScript, CSS file, HTML… And chances are you don’t know most of them. But your developers do. And the distance between your customers and them might be the root of all of your problems.
So, what can you do to close the gap? Well, there are many options, but we will recommend you to hire a QA Engineer. They make sure that the quality of the product or service – in this case, your website – is top notch and catch all the mistakes the programmers have made. They test all of the aspects and report back their findings. Hiring even one can significantly improve your performance.
Talk to an SEO Expert
When it comes to website speed, many people think about coding, hosting and bandwidth. And all of that could definitely be the cause like we have mentioned. But the silent killer is optimisation. This is where an SEO expert comes in place. The way you are writing your articles can actually seriously slow down your speed.
If you have way too many unoptimised images, your website is in trouble. High-resolution takes forever to load, and your visitors will definitely notice that. The most common mistake is actually trying to scale down larger images since it will only cause more problems.
And, of course, there is the issue of which format you are using. If you didn’t know, JPEG is the fastest loading one, so make sure your customers aren’t suffering simply because you are using PNG.
Too Much Traffic on your Website
We have all heard the urban legends of website trafficking on important days – checking sold-out concert tickets, getting exam results, shopping during Black Friday… And although it seems great to have so many visitors, it might be killing your website. Just imagine a crowded store where everyone is yelling their orders at a cashier. That is how your website feels and it’s no wonder it slows down.
Good news is that this problem is usually solvable and it doesn’t last that long. However, if it happens often, you should definitely consider upgrading and investing more money, in order to make sure your customers are getting the best possible experience.
Your website is the first thing your potential customers will see and first impressions still do matter a lot. Make sure they aren’t disappointed and you won’t have anything to worry about.
