Technology is growing and changing every day, that’s a fact. More businesses are investing in their presence online, and more consumers are shopping and looking for information online as well. With this online and mobile trend moving upward, what is the slight edge that separates one website from another? How do you keep a consumer on your page verses your competitor? One solution that is sure to pay off, increasing your site speed.

What is Page Speed?

Page speed refers to the speed at which web pages and media content are downloaded from a website’s hosting servers, and displayed in your browser. Page load time specifically is the amount of time that lapses between clicking the link and the entire content displaying. Google has found that 25% of users will abandon a website if it takes longer than 4 seconds to load. This number is even higher for mobile users. Google has found that 74% of mobile users will leave a site if it takes longer than 5 seconds to load. This gives you a very small window to capture your audience, and if your speed is longer than 4 seconds this can equate to missed opportunities for you.

Not only is it important to address the site speed of your website on desktop, but mobile as well. The iPhone X is just the latest of popular smartphones released, and it’s nearly impossible to leave the house and not run into a stranger with their head buried in their phone. 87% of U.S. citizens own mobile devices and 47% of those own smartphones. These numbers are only going to increase which could help or hurt your business depending on how long it takes your site to load.

Where to Start

There are many different tools available that will analyze your site speed and generate a free report. You can test your own site at Pingdom or GTMetrix for valuable insight into performance and scores. They will also give you great suggestions and educate even those that would consider themselves non-tech savvy website owners.

There are many factors that separate great businesses from those that are just average. If you’re looking to stay ahead of competition, consider looking into the site speed of your website. By optimizing your loading speed to 4 seconds or less, you can guarantee consumers are going to stay on your site longer which in turn can only mean better things for your business.