Get More Conversions

SPEED: Faster Is Better

Fast-loading pages get used more often. Consider Google: It offers excellent search results, but an equally important key to its success is its blindingly fast speed. (To see what I mean, run the same query on Alexa, MSN, Yahoo! and Google, and note response times.)

Over the next quarter, establish concrete targets for reducing your site’s load times. Monitor the speed of the home page, and a typical page for each product category, product detail and on-site-search query. Make sure your timing tool uses sampling to get fair estimates, as response times vary by Internet, server and database loads. Benchmark load times for key competitor sites, too.