5 Reasons Your Website Is Loading Slow and How to Fix It Fast

A slow-loading website can frustrate users and negatively impact your business.

A study by Google shows that 53% of mobile users leave a site that takes more than three seconds to load.

Thanks to its colossal effect on user satisfaction and continued use of search engines, website speed directly affects search engine optimization (SEO) rankings, conversion rates, and overall user experience.

Let’s look at five common reasons your website might be slow. These reasons include heavy and unoptimized images, too many HTTP requests, poor JavaScript optimization, unoptimized plugins, and slow hosting.

We’ll also cover how to fix each issue to improve speed and performance quickly and how Trio might be the right tech partner for you by providing cost-effective solutions through outsourcing, staff augmentation, and even building dedicated teams.

1. Heavy and Unoptimized Images

Large image files are the most common culprits for slow load times. If your images aren’t optimized, they can take up significant bandwidth, causing pages to load slowly.

This can be particularly problematic if you target people with slower internet connections or lack access to the latest technology, such as 5G.

There are a couple of different things that you can address to fix this issue.

The first strategy that you need to implement is image compression. You can use tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, or various other options to automate this process so that you only have to address it once.

Once your images are compressed to minimize the amount of data required as much as possible, you can implement responsive images to ensure the appropriate image size is served depending on the user’s device.

This technique can help mobile users access your site faster while maintaining quality on larger screens.

Responsive images are critical as we continue shifting towards a mobile-first society, even though most of our development still occurs on personal computers.

You should also consider using modern formats like WebP, which can be more efficient than traditional formats like JPEG or PNG.

Many of these modern formats can be compressed far more than the traditional ones before image quality is noticeably decreased.

2. Too Many HTTP Requests

Every resource on your page – an image, script, or stylesheet – creates an HTTP request. In layman’s terms, this is a message that is sent from your user’s browser to a server to ask for data.

The more requests are made, the longer it takes for your website to load.

Improving load speed by minimizing HTTP requests can usually be automated through a plugin – or a series of plugins – but if you do not have a technical background, the process can be challenging to understand.

The first step we recommend is to combine CSS and JavaScript files to minimize the number of HTTP requests that need to be made on each web page.

By reducing the number of external files, you’ll significantly reduce the number of requests the browser needs to make, thus speeding up load times and improving overall website performance.

Another helpful technique that you should be able to implement without much trouble is using inline CSS for small bits of styling.

Essentially, this means embedding CSS directly into your HTML document rather than calling an external file. While you don’t want to overdo this (especially for large CSS blocks), it can be helpful for simple, small styles that don’t need a separate file.

This is where having an experienced back-end developer might be advantageous. Their knowledge of where to use inline CSS and where to avoid it can ensure you improve page speed without causing other issues.

Finally, we suggest that you implement lazy loading for images and videos.

This method ensures that only the visible content on the screen is loaded first, while other elements like images or videos further down the page load as the user scrolls.

This can drastically improve perceived performance and site speed, especially for media-heavy pages that you would probably use for educational content or to promote products.

3. Poor JavaScript Optimization

JavaScript is popular amongst front-end developers for its ability to create interactive and dynamic websites. However, poorly optimized scripts can lead to slow-loading websites.

Large or inefficient JavaScript files can block other elements from loading, creating frustrating delays for users.

The first step in fixing this is to minify and compress JavaScript files.

Similarly to the image compression we mentioned above, you can reduce the file size without changing its functionality. Usually, this is done by removing unnecessary characters (like white space or comments) from the code.

Of course, ideally, you would like to create the code as efficiently as possible, but it can be challenging to do if you are working in a collaborative software development environment.

Tools like UglifyJS or Terser can help automate this process.

Next, you can try to implement asynchronous loading for non-critical JavaScript files.

Typically, JavaScript files block the page from loading until fully downloaded. This keeps people from seeing your web content.

Asynchronously Loading specific scripts allows them to download in parallel with other elements, speeding up the overall page load speed.

Deferring JavaScript execution also ensures that your essential content (like text and images) loads first, with non-essential scripts being executed later, which improves the user experience by allowing them to interact with the page while it loads.

Another common way to improve page load time is through caching. By caching files – storing copies of files – locally on the user’s browser, you can avoid re-downloading them on subsequent visits, speeding up the experience for repeat users.

But we will discuss this in more detail below.

4. Unoptimized Plugins

Plugins are a fantastic way to extend the functionality of your website and automate specific processes, as we have already discussed. However, unoptimized plugins can also be the reason why your website is slow to load.

We see this happen pretty often, especially if our clients are using too many or relying on poorly coded ones.

Each plugin adds its scripts and stylesheets, which can bog down your site’s performance.

To tackle this issue and improve the speed of your website pages, you should audit your plugins.

Regularly review the plugins you’re using and ask yourself if they’re all necessary. Always remove any that you no longer need or that overlap in functionality with other plugins. Often, this overlap can cause issues that affect website loading speed.

Once you have removed redundant and unused plugins, make sure you put systems in place to regularly update the plugins you decided to keep.

Outdated plugins can slow down your site and pose security risks. Many plugin updates include performance improvements, so keeping them up to date ensures you’re getting the best version.

If you are using a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, this process is relatively easy to automate.

We also recommend that you consider if you’re using the best plugin for what you need.

Where possible, choose lightweight, well-coded alternatives. Not all plugins are created equal – some have unnecessary features that can slow down your website without offering you enough benefits to outweigh this cost.

There is no clear-cut way to determine the best plugins out there, as the best option for everyone will be different. Do some research to find the most efficient options for your needs.

If you’re struggling with plugin optimization and think it might be the reason why you have a slow-loading website, consider contacting some of our expert developers here at Trio.

They can assist with auditing and optimizing your plugins, ensuring seamless integration with minimal management friction, and helping you boost your business growth through technology.

5. Slow Web Hosting

No matter how much you optimize your website’s code and resources, your hosting provider determines how fast your website loads.

Shared hosting, while affordable, can slow down your site – especially during traffic spikes – because you’re sharing server resources with other websites.

To resolve this issue, the only thing you can do is consider upgrading to a better hosting plan.

Look for hosting that provides more bandwidth, dedicated resources, or even managed hosting services, which include optimizations that keep your website running smoothly.

Another factor that you need to be considering is the location of your server.

The closer the server is to your users, the faster data can be transferred.

For websites that cater to international audiences, using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can distribute your website’s resources across multiple locations, allowing your users to load content from a geographically closest server.

The priciest option, although usually the best if your website has gotten to the point where your hosting is affecting the speed of your site, managed hosting providers.

These web hosting service providers often offer enhanced performance features such as caching and server-side optimizations that drastically improve load times.

If your hosting is a bottleneck, Trio can help you find a solution tailored to your website’s needs.

Our experienced web developers can access your specific situation and provide recommendations to ensure you not only meet your current needs but are also set up in such a way that you will be able to scale quickly in the future.

Bonus: How Caching Improves Website Speed

What is Cache and How Does It Work?

We’ve already mentioned caching, but let’s look at it in a little more detail.

Caching is a technique that stores frequently accessed data in a temporary storage location, such as a user’s browser or a CDN.

When a user revisits your website, the cached files are loaded from the local storage rather than downloaded from the server again.

Benefits of Implementing Caching Strategies

In short, caching reduces the load on your server and speeds up repeat visits to your website, creating a faster and more seamless user experience.

As we’ve mentioned, you need to consider speed as a ranking factor for most search engines due to its effect on user experience.

This means that caching and the subsequent faster load times can not only decrease bounce rates but also improve your SEO rankings.

How to Optimize Your Website with Caching

To take full advantage of caching as a way to speed up your website, you need to implement both browser and server-side caching.

Browser caching stores website resources on the user’s device for quicker access during repeat visits, while server-side caching ensures frequently requested data is stored on the server, reducing load times for everyone.

Conclusion: How Trio Can Help You Optimize for Speed

You can significantly improve your website’s performance by addressing the five common reasons for slow website load times – heavy images, excessive HTTP requests, poor JavaScript optimization, unoptimized plugins, and inadequate hosting.

Our expert developers here at Trio can assist you with everything from plugin management to JavaScript optimization and hosting solutions, ensuring your website is fast, reliable, and optimized for success.

They are thoroughly vetted and have proven themselves time and time again. Our focus on their well-being means that our developer satisfaction and performance are also consistently high.

Reach out to us to set up a call and get started on finding the right developers for you, with both the right technical expertise and team culture alignment.