5 Ways to Improve Website Performance

In eCommerce website design and development, the core quality you want to base your site around is speed. Fast-loading websites not only improve all-around user experience, but also earns credibility when it comes to Google rankings. You don’t want your customers to have to wait to view and interact with your brand, so if you need to start eCommerce re-platforming, the best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now.

From small fixes to large-scale retools, here are 5 steps that will help you boost your website speeds.

Minify CSS & JavaScript Files

Good website optimisation starts at the code level, but this doesn’t have to take a programmer’s knowledge. Minification is the process by which all unnecessary spaces in your site’s code are taken out. This includes white space, comments and unnecessary punctuation, and the final output should streamline your site loading and running times a little bit better. You don’t have to do this manually, and there are plug-ins (WP Rocket is essential for WordPress) and websites that can do this process for you. It’s a quick fix that, in tandem with the following other improvements, will enhance your website’s speeds.

Optimise Images

Images are one of the most substantial parts of internet traffic. It is good for the user experience to have high-quality images, but having each of them in just the right format and resolution will make huge improvements to loading times. Online image compressors make this process less time-consuming, and the results will be remarkable changes.

Minimize HTTP Requests

HTTP requests are sent to your website server every time someone loads a file on a webpage. This can include separate requests for CSS, JavaScript files and image files, so it’s wise to merge files whenever possible. You can do this by merging CSS and JavaScript into single files, as well as transforming images into CSS sprites, and these can be done using plug-ins such as the aforementioned WP Rocket.

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A content delivery network (CDN) is a set of cache servers that are located in multiple parts of the world. Physical location plays an important role in server speed, and CDNs can often be closer than the website hosting server, resulting in much quicker requests and loading times.

Enable Browser Caching

If you don’t have browser caching enabled for your website, make sure you do so if you want it to improve the experience for recurring visitors. This functionality allows users to store certain files locally to reduce the amount of HTTP requests every time they visit the website. This can be switched on using a plug-in such as WP Rocket.

Work with an eCommerce Website Development Agency

Brave Agency is a leading eCommerce web development agency in the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire area and offers a range of services to kickstart your business’s online presence. We work with a varied range of clients to create and develop incredibly robust and high-quality eCommerce websites that showcase their brand in the best light possible. We’ve handled countless eCommerce re-platforming assignments and have an unmatched pedigree in the field. In addition, our dedicated web design team offers inventive, meaningful and eye-catching brand identity projects that have boosted many of our clients’ images tenfold. Contact our team today and see what your brand can achieve with a quality eCommerce growth agency behind it.

Written byNathan Evans

Content Writer at Brave Agency

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