In this era of hyper-connection, mobiles have become the preferred device for surfing the web.
Whether it is reading news, social media surfing, online shopping, or searching for products, the mobile experience has become the center of user interaction.
But one such center of interaction that goes unnoticed is the speed of mobile sites, i.e., how quickly your site loads on a mobile or tablet.
Why Mobile Site Speed Matters
First Impressions Matter
As per Google, 53% of mobile page visitors will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. In a world of digitally abbreviated attention spans, slow sites become instant abandonment.
Your site might be gorgeous, but if it’s slow to load, nobody is going to wait to enjoy it.
It Directly Impacts SEO
Site speed isn’t just an issue of user experience—it’s also an SEO ranking factor. In July 2018, Google released the “Speed Update,” which treated page speed as a mobile search ranking signal.
Faster mobile sites not only enhance the user experience but will rank higher too, giving your business an edge over others.
Conversions Take a Hit
Every second counts. A Portent study showed that the best eCommerce conversion rates on websites are 0–2 seconds. Each additional second of load time can cost you as much as 20% in conversions. If you care about sales, sign-ups, or downloads, slow mobile performance will cost you money.
Common Reasons for Slow Speeds in Mobile Sites
Large picture files: High-quality photos can be very heavy to handle on mobile networks.
Too many HTTP requests: Every image, style, and script adds to load time.
Slow server response time: A sluggish host or an inefficient backend may cause latency.
Un-optimized code: Large, bloated JavaScript and CSS files will slow it down.
No caching: Without caching, returning visitors have to reload everything from the ground up.
How to Speed Up Your Mobile Site
Use Responsive Design
Make sure your site responds well to varying screen sizes without loading unnecessary resources.
Compress Images
Tools such as Tiny png or WebP formats can readily compress image file sizes significantly with minimal loss of quality._REF.
Minimize and Defer Scripts
Remove unnecessary JavaScript, and defer non-blocking scripts so that they will not block rendering.
Implement Browser Caching
Cache frequently accessed files on the local machine to accelerate revisits. Choose a Reputable Hosting Company Invest in performance optimized hosting that ensures fast server response. Use a Content Delivery Network.