Developers have been going the extra mile to speed up their websites. But why do they work day and night to ensure their website’s speed is first-class?
Pagespeed is crucial for websites’ user experience. In fact, both search engines and visitors favor those loading under 3 ms.
Your hosting provider plays a huge role in honing your site’s speed. If your provider doesn’t have decent server uptime, response time, or bandwidth, the website’s data may take some time to get to your clients. The longer it takes, the bigger the chance visitors will leave.
In this article, you will learn how web hosting influences your page speed.
Why a Good Hosting Is Needed for Page-speed?
1. Reduced Server Response Time
The more time your server takes to complete a request, the lower your page speed scores.
Your website’s speed will only improve when you migrate it to higher-powering hardware. Therefore, choose your web host attentively, as an excellent one is a key to faster site performance.
Reduced server response time enables your site to load faster. To get your site to load quickly, you’re required to find a server whose response time is no more than 200 ms. In terms of the Time To First Byte (TTFB), your hosting provider should attain 1.3 secs TTFB at max.
If you’re currently looking for a plan that’s promising, yet affordable, check out www.hostinger.in/web-hosting. Hostinger ensures speedy loading times and 99.9% uptime!
2. Guaranteed Latest PHP Versions, Scripts and Technologies
Just like other app updates, PHP brings improvements to a website’s performance and security.
The latest versions of PHP are those 7.* ones. Around 37.8% of WordPress websites use the inadvisable PHP versions.
Find a web host provider offering 7.2 or higher PHP versions to let your website shine.
In the 4.1.1 WordPress environment, the 7+ PHP versions prove to handle more than twice the requests than the 5.6 version. The data latency is also golden. The said traffic can be resolved at half the latency of that of PHP 5.6.
Also, the latest update on PHP 7.4 provides preload support. This feature allows developers to custom the PHP codes to optimize the early fetch of information needed for the next navigation.
3. Guaranteed Server Uptime, Performance, and Bandwidth
Server uptime refers to the accumulated time it’s available online. It should be on your list when searching for a provider, as frequent downtime is as disastrous as slow loading time.
Many providers guarantee 99.X% uptime. However, don’t fall for the first provider you check. Always conduct your research to find one that can benefit your site to its maximum potential. We recommend you to go with one that has 99.9% server uptime.
Bandwidth measures how much data a website can transfer in a second. Meaning the more bandwidth your site has, the more data it can deliver.
While 3 Mbps is sufficient to handle traffic surge, opt for 5 Mbps if your website is media-heavy.
Also read: Reasons Your Business Needs a Mobile-Friendly Design for Websites
4. CDN and Additional Optimizations for Server Speed
Hosting providers that focus on speed and performance constantly add and upgrade server optimization features. Content Delivery Network (CDN) Integration, plugins, and caching are all important elements to look out for.
As locations determine your site’s speed, you need a server in the same area as your target audience. CDN facilitates your website with networks of servers. It saves your data on different servers at different locations to reach your audience wherever it might be.
Also, see if your selected hosting provides caching. This feature saves static pages for faster fetch, helping your site handle multiple requests at once. Apart from the server-side caching, you can also add caching plugins to your WordPress, including W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache.
5. Knowledgeable Tech Support
Customer service and support is also one thing to consider when choosing a hosting provider. Suppose your site runs into a speed problem. In this circumstance, the one you’ll have to contact customer support.
Compare one provider’s tech support to another’s. Study all the reviews if possible and choose one that best suits your expectations. Also, keep in mind that live chat is faster and more convenient than emails, as you want to solve the problem in a timely manner.
Why Page Speed Can Make or Break Your Online Business
Statistics reveal that 40% of users won’t hesitate to leave a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
In the case of online businesses, fast websites attract potential buyers, and slow ones drive them off.
A poorly performing website can bring your company a lousy fortune: increasing its bounce rate and lowering its conversion rate.
Bouncing occurs when your visitors leave a single page on your website without taking further action. This can happen because your site takes forever to load. Consequently, they’ll choose the faster site, your competitor, to go with.
While 5 seconds of load time feels fast enough, it increases your website bounce rate to 90%. And a second delay leads to a 106% bounce’s probability. The best way to top this situation – and for better ranking on the search engines – is to aim for less than 3 seconds.
To get a higher conversion rate, ensure your server response time isn’t above 200 ms. As a 100 ms delay contributes to a 7% rate decrease.
While the standard is relatively high, it’s not too late for your website to steal the spotlight. Analyze your website’s page speed with tools like GTMetrix, Pingdom, and start from there.
And, of course, always choose a reputable hosting provider.