In general, if a user is looking for an answer on Google, they definitely want to get the answer as fast as possible and this proves that website loading speed is very important for users. If users experience delays, chances are they won't come back and leave your website immediately.
So for website owners this is equivalent to losing a valuable opportunity, especially if the users who visit can become potential customers.
Apart from speed, website security is also one of the things that users pay attention to when they want to visit a website. Because most users are very careful about personal information breaches and hacking when visiting websites, Google has implemented "safe browsing technology" to prevent this and protect the privacy of visitors.
Thus, starting from 2018, certain browsers, such as Google, will apply website loading speed and security as indicators for ranking factors. But, are you still confused about why loading pages and security are very important factors for Google? Come on, just look at the reasons for loading websites to be fast below.
What is page speed SEO?
Before knowing the reasons for loading websites must be fast and why websites must be safe, we should first introduce page speed or what is often referred to as loading page/ loading website.
Page speed can be interpreted as the time needed to display content on a website page. Also page speed is the time it takes your website to receive the first byte of information from the web server, so it represents the loading time of a website.
There are several factors that can affect page speed, including:
- How many pictures, videos, and other media are on your website page
- Themes and plugins installed on your website
- Type of Coding and server script used by your website and its pages.
All of these elements can affect page loading speed on your website and will ultimately affect the UX of your website. As you know, users really don't like slow-loading pages, so having a fast loading website is very important.
What makes a website load fast?
As previously defined, having a fast loading page is very important for a website. Therefore, here are four reasons for website loading to be fast.
1. Lowering the Bounce Rate
When we talk about loading page speed, every second counts. Even Google research shows that if the loading speed on a website increases from one to three seconds, the chances of a bounce (visitors who will leave soon) will increase by as much as 32 percent.
Then, if the page takes five seconds to load, the probability that a bounce will occur increases by 90 percent. So if the pages on your website don't load quickly and in certain seconds, this will significantly increase the chances of users leaving your website.
Also if your web page is disorganized, it will affect your website's ability to generate high user engagement. So, the website must be fast if you want a low bounce rate on the website.
2. Improve SEO
Page speed also has a very important role in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As previously mentioned, Google takes a variety of factors into consideration when deciding how to rank web pages.
One of them is the page speed. So if you want your website to stand at number one in SEO and want it to be easy to find, make sure that the website must be fast; has a fast loading page.
3. Affecting User Experience
Another reason why website loading must be fast is because page speed can affect user perceptions of your website. If your website's web page takes too long to load or if there is an error in the process, it will make your website look very unprofessional and untrustworthy.
4. Becoming One of the Indicators for Ranking Factors
Currently, page speed is an indicator rather than a ranking factor. If your website is not too slow, you can still get decent rankings at an average speed. But it has been proven time and time again that the faster the website loads, the better the ranking and performance of your website.
How to Increase Website Loading Speed?
After knowing the reasons for loading the website must be fast above, does your website already have a fast page speed? If you haven't, or don't know how, here are some steps you can follow to increase loading speed on your website.
1. Do Compressions
The first is to "compress" or reduce the size of the images displayed on the website or the size of the CSS, HTML and Javascript used on the website.
You can use Gzip, an application for file compression, to reduce the size of CSS, HTML, and JavaScript that contain more than 150 bytes. Then for certain files such as images, you can use a program like Photoshop where the quality of the image can be controlled so that it can be optimized for a certain size.
2. Minimizing Redirects
Most redirects for your website will greatly affect loading speed. Every time a page on the website redirects to another page, it will extend HTTP, thereby lengthening the response process as well. Of course, sometimes redirects do have to be applied. However, removing unneeded redirects will result in faster page speeds.
There are several ways you can do to minimize redirects if you use WordPress. One way is to avoid creating unnecessary redirects while building internal links and menus. The other one is to ensure that the Top-Level Domain (TLD) has a maximum of only one redirect.
3. Using Asynchronous Loading for CSS and JavaScript Files
Your website is built with CSS and JavaScript files. The script can load synchronously or asynchronously.
If running synchronously, the two script files will be loaded one by one to appear on the web page. With this method, if the browser encounters a script, the browser will stop loading other elements until the file has finished loading.
But if you use asynchronous loading, your website can load many files at the same time. Thus, it will speed up website loading.
4. Removing Unnecessary Plugins
Having too many unnecessary plugins on your website will slow down the loading of the website. Then, besides that, plugins that are out of date or not controlled will pose a security threat and can also hinder performance.
Therefore, it is very important to minimize the number of plugins used for your website. Of course, one way is to deactivate and delete any plugins that are not used anymore.
Because several plugins can have the same functions and features, these plugins can also slow down the website so that loading pages will not be able to function quickly. To identify plugins that slow down page speed, you can try to test one by one individually.
5. Acquire Browser Caching
Browser caching is a form of caching that you can use to increase the speed of page loading on your website. This technique allows your website to store various information including images, JavaScript files and others so that the web page does not have to load the entire page every time a user visits your website.
Caching your web page can help reduce the Time to First Byte (TTFB) because it doesn't require a lot of resources to load a page. To get browser caching, you can use certain plugins such as W3 Total Cache or WP rocket for WordPress websites,
6. Choosing the Best Hosting
The last way is to choose a hosting provider whose performance has been tested. Hosting providers actually have a very important role in managing the performance and management of your website, including page speed.
Make sure you choose a hosting server that has maximum performance.
Why must the Website be Safe?
Website security is one of the things that must be controlled in order to prevent hackers from accessing sensitive information on your website. Especially if you are an entrepreneur who has a website, having a safe website is a priority so you can create a safe environment for your website visitors.
Having a secure website is one of the goals of website owners because no one wants to have a website that can be easily hacked. For example, if a website is hacked or hit by a block list, the website has a 98% chance of losing traffic.
Not having a secure website can be considered as bad as having no website at all. For example, if your website is insecure and a visitor is subject to a data breach, this can result in lawsuits, sanctions, and damage to your reputation.
So, this is very concerned by Google so that users do not experience unwanted things. Google also has a Safe Browsing Site Checker if you want to check the security status of a website.
How do websites stay secure?
Is your website safe? If you feel it's lacking, here are some ways you can follow to improve the security of your website.
1. Choosing a Secure Web Hosting
The very first and most important thing for a website to be safe is to choose the right and trusted website host. Choosing the right website hosting server will help you control your website in terms of security and user experience.
What is most often done with business owners is; choose a cheap hosting. In fact, cheap hosting doesn't necessarily provide proper security for your website. So make sure that the chosen hosting can provide security and high performance.
2. Using Security Plugins
Security plugins are very important if you have a website. To avoid hacking, installing a security plugin for your website is the first step you should take. Here are some recommendations for security plugins that you can use for your website;
- iThemes Security
- Wordfence Security
- Secupress Free
- Shield Security
Actually there are still lots of security plugins that you can use, but these are four of them.
3. Install SSL
Next is to install SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) which is a security protocol created to generate encrypted links between web servers and web browsers through online communication. The encryption will establish a path of communication between the web server and web browser.
SSL is very important for a website because with an SSL certificate, your website can protect personal information, credit card information, data and login information. Especially if you have an e-commerce website filled with user data. With SSL, users don't have to worry about data breaches occurring on their data on your website.
4. Website Updates
Furthermore, you also have to keep updating the website. Usually, websites that contain info, display profiles, must be updated regularly so that they can guarantee website security.
With that in mind, if you keep updating the website, the CMS system used usually also requires updating at a certain time. If your website is continuously updated, your website security will also strengthen.
5. Using Strong Passwords
Finally, make sure that you use a strong password that is not easy for hackers to guess. Hackers can get your website login information with an attack called "Brute Force Attack". But of course, you can prevent these attacks by having a strong password.
A strong password usually consists of a combination of numbers, characters, alphabet, uppercase and lowercase letters. For example: Z9wqa267wor!d_06. So, make sure you change your website password to a stronger one so you can have a secure website.
Conclusion
Thus, the website must be fast so that it can attract lots of visitors and increase website traffic. Therefore, Google implements that every website has at least 1-3 seconds for website loading time and no more than that. With a fast loading speed, your website can also optimize for SEO and be ranked high.
In addition, the website must be secure so that it can protect user data that visits your website. Google also implements that websites must be secure if you want to achieve high rankings and optimize for SEO. This is because users feel safe and the website is protected from hacking.