The average website page load speed is roughly 1.9 seconds on a desktop and 1.7 seconds for a mobile device. Why does how quickly your NFP’s website loads make a difference? When a page load time changes from 1 second to 3 seconds, the instances of visitors “bouncing” to another website increases by 32% – all things being equal.
Consumers today do not have long attention spans. People are able to get the information they need using a blending of social media, AI (artificial intelligence), and websites. There is a ton of competition to ensure your nonprofit’s website reaches the top of a search results page, and that requires speed.
You want to focus on improving page load speed to:
- Increase your results in search engines (higher the rank, the better).
- Infuse your website with better customer/user experience.
- Encourage visitors to stay on your website longer.
- Increase visitation satisfaction.
- Make sure your NFP is growing steadily with a positive online presence.
The trick is knowing how to transform your average web pages, so they load quickly and accurately across all devices. Here is a list our professional website design and development team at Web 105 recommend.
#1 – Start with Your Images
Images take the longest time to load (besides video). While you want a high resolution to remain engaging and attractive to visitors, you need to optimise it, so it doesn’t take 5 minutes to fully load.
In most cases, you’ll want to use the .webp and .avif image file formats. These will not reduce your image quality, but do change the image size. You can use a free online service like Cloud Converter to do this for you or some version of extension/plugin that will automatically update your website in the background.
#2 – Minify Your Website Code
Modern websites are made using a blending of many languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python. Every one of these languages can have redundancies and unnecessary “snippets” that take up space when the page has to load.
You want to integrate minification on your website. That is where you remove excessive line breaks, longer stretches of code, and other unnecessary items so everything is streamlined – just be sure you don’t remove mobile responsiveness in the process.
#3 – Talk to Your Website Host
Not all website host providers are built the same. Most have tiered payment plans that will slow (or throttle) your website’s response rate when you reach a certain threshold. What may have started as a budget-friendly option to save money with your NFP can lead to a pain for website traffic.
Usually, a quick phone call will clear this up. You may have to upgrade to the next tier service plan, but that shouldn’t be at an excessive cost. You can always switch to a different provider once your contract is up.
#4 – Fewer Redirects
A website redirect tells someone to go to a different landing page when they reach a specific URL. Say you have a cat hat in the shape of a fish, but the URL slug points to the same product in a category, making an extra step when navigating to the right landing page.
The more you reduce redirects and “page intermediaries” the smoother people can navigate and explore your website. It also really helps with constructing a sitemap that search engine crawlers rely upon to track your site’s changes and updates.
#5 – Leverage a CDN
A CDN (content delivery network) spreads the loadable “weight” of your website around different servers all over the world. It makes it easier for people in one location to visit your site because there are resources that load faster due to them being geographically closer.
Most website platforms have some form of this you can buy into. Jetpack is a good example for WordPress based websites.
#6 – Get Tested
There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of website speed testers online. Google has a tried-and-true systems for testing your page load times. As long as you choose one that works best with your unique needs, you should be able to see what you need to adjust so you get better results.
#7 – Instruct the Browser Cache
Experienced website developers can instruct a user’s browsers to engage its “browser cache.” This is where some elements of your website are stored on local browsers so when someone visits your site again, they load much faster.
The only caveat is that some of these systems may load older files or elements. If you have an NFP website that frequently changes, you may want to avoid this trick.
#8 – Reduce External Scripts
A modern website tends to have all kinds of third-party scripts or external resources. Everything from robust commenting systems to CTA buttons and social media integration requires the user’s browser to talk with your website as well as those other systems.
You may want to limit the number of external scripts you use in your design. That will especially help mobile based users whose smartphones or tablets may not support such external resource anyways.
Final Thoughts
A quality website host will likely have a program to help you speed up your website page load times. The faster your NFP site loads, the easier it is for people to view services, mission, impact statements, donor forms, and upcoming events.
With our team at Web 105, we build websites with speed in mind. Our custom platforms work across all devices, ensuring you get optimal load times that deliver your content to where it will resonate most. Call our team today and let’s build a fully optimised website for you!
FAQs
How do I make my page speed faster?
There are many ways to speed up your website page load times. Start with image optimisation and reducing excess code. Get your site tested after that for further insights.
What is the ideal page load speed?
Anything between 0 and 2 seconds will work and keep your website competitive in the modern marketplace. Just be sure to check on different device screens to confirm page load time.
What is lazyload?
Lazyload is a design technique where larger file size elements like videos and images are not loaded until the user on the website clicks to see more or engage with those elements.