If you are right about to start a website with Wix, you might be initially interested to find out more about its potential load time and optimization options. These are crucial rates that define the future success of the project and its positions in the search engine results.
Load time parameter is responsible for whether a visitor will stay on the site and keep exploring it or leave for faster loading competitors. The reviews show that over 40% of people who usually surf the net would probably leave in case the website load speed is more than 3 seconds. It is almost half of the potential target audience.
The question is not only about the visitors’ volume, traffic, various ROIs, etc. It is also about the overall Wix website optimization and SEO. The less time your pages need to be loaded, the high search engine ranks they will get. The speed depends on different factors. Sometimes users opt for a pack of random tips that might not work. In this article, we will review some handy steps that will let you improve the load speed when using Wix website builder.
How to Measure Wix Website Load Time
Before we start discussing the tip on how to speed up your Wix website, we should clarify what load speed is and how it works.
What Is Website Speed?
The rate depicts the time necessary for the particular page to load once a user has clicked on the link or types the URL in the search bar. The longer it takes a user to browse through pages, the lower satisfaction and engagement your website has. Low-speed results in decreased conversion and traffic, lower SEO ranking, and huge visitors’ loss.
For this reason, most website owners try their best to reach the optimum load speed, which should be less than 2 seconds. As Google stats show, 47% of all users expect the load time will never exceed that timeframe. On the other hand, we all want to come up with a beautiful, dynamic, and at the same time functional site. What should we do to avoid crucial website degradation?
How Does the Website Speed Work?
The web page loading process mainly relies on three essential points:
- A browser used by your visitors (Opera, Safari, Chrome, etc.);
- The internet connection speed established by your local provider.
- Server performance or hosting (a place, where your project actually lives).
Imagine yourself surfing the net in search of a particular product or service. First of all, you go to your preferred browser and type in the name of the product or marketplace. In this case, you actually send the request to the server, which sends the necessary info back with all files and codes arranged so that you could see the finishing touch of the web page.
The key question is how to make the server deliver the requested info as fast as possible especially when using all-in-one building solutions.
Measuring Website Load Time with Wix Tools
Wix comes with a powerful set of tools that can be applied for effective website analytics tracking. Speed and load time can be measured here as well. With this purpose, you should reach the Site Speed dashboard, where the system displays your current website load speed. The available data is based on several aspects, namely real site visitors, PageSpeed Insights and comparative performance of websites that are similar to your project. If the parameter does not come up to your expectations, you will be offered to browse the tools and tips that will help you enhance page loading data with regard to your current requirements.
When working with Wix, you should keep in mind that you will be able to see real website speed data only if your project has got 10 or more mobile site sessions during the previous week. Otherwise, the data will be unavailable.
To calculate your website load speed time, the system should know real user info. The TTI (Time to Interactive) parameter is one of the major issues to keep in mind, when it comes to web page loading. This is the time required for proper and correct display of all the elements visible on the loaded page. If you make any changes to your web page, which can affect its loading speed, the tool will provide the measurements and their fluctuations over time. What’s important, you can view the statistics for each web page to define which of them loads slower/faster. As a result, you will be able to decide on the content/design elements that require updates.
Wix Site Speed dashboard is user-friendly, offering useful guides and tips to beginners, who decide to optimize their website performance. An undeniable highlight of the system is that it measures your website speed parameters, comparing them to similar projects based on the location and business category. For example, if you run a restaurant business in Los Angeles, your website speed will be compared to other restaurant websites in the US. In case there is not enough data to make such a comparison in your country, the system will compare your website to other similar projects across the globe. If you are not satisfied with the business category selected for your website by default, you can change it by clicking the corresponding category in Speed Benchmarks.
There is one more tool Wix offers for effective website load speed measurement. PageSpeed Insights provides users with mobile and desktop page speed score derived from the test data available in Google Lighthouse lab data. The score ranges between 1 and 100, helping you identify the result and evaluate the efficacy of your website loading.
Crucial tip #1: use the blank website with no content to check the page load speed on various hosted platforms. As a rule, the most trusted ones offer free trials. So, you can measure the rate at zero cost.
Online Services to Measure Wix Website Load Time
We have picked some of the most popular services that let users measure the website load time with a couple of clicks. Some of them generate detailed reports showcasing the issues that require urgent optimization. However, you won’t need that at first, as we are measuring a blank website with no content. So, here are some top services to rate the load speed:
#1 – Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights – is a trusted tool to measure website speed. The key feature is that it not only provides actual performance results but also lets Google look into the code. The system uses a powerful analytics engine to ensure real-time stats and offers some hints at what should be done to improve the overall performance. Moreover, it is very easy to use.
Key Features:
- A combination of Lighthouse and CrUX engines;
- Intuitive interface;
- Simple scoring system.
#2 – Pingdom Testing Tool
Pingdom – is another popular website speed-testing tool that makes it possible to test a website from various locations due to data centers situated in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The platform comes with a detailed summary of all issues that might require optimization to benefit from a higher load speed. It has handy chart with all content formats supported as well as colors related to a particular status.
Key features:
- Enhanced reporting;
- Testing form multiple locations;
- 24/7 accessibility.
#3 – K6
K6 – is more focused on professional developers and programmers. Dedicated pros get a chance to design the test of their own using any of the available programming languages. Beginners may also benefit from the opportunity to perform many types of performance tests with the system, including smoke, load, stress, soak and spike testing.
Key features:
- Local and Cloud accessibility;
- Performance alert algorithms;
- Customer support and growing community.
#4 – Uptrends
Uptrends – is a trusted and easy-to-use speed measurement tool that makes it possible to benefit from detailed insights. Site owners have a chance to measure all vital metrics that include page size, loading time, request speed, possible breakdowns or waterfalls. The system generates handy reports with detailed stats as well as improvement recommendations.
Key features:
- Servers located worldwide;
- All key metrics to measure;
- Desktop and mobile site version tests.
You may use any of the above-mentioned to compare the results with your free blank website hosted by various website building platforms. Choose the one with better rates and start building a fully operated project.
Crucial tip #2: even if your finished website scores 10 out of 10, there is always a place for optimization.
How to Speed Up Wix Website Load Time
We have discussed some tips for those who only get started with their Wix sites. But what should a user do with already existing websites that require improvement in terms of load time? The main stumbling block is that hosted platforms usually take care of the performance on their own, providing limited access to the source code or page settings to optimize them. The only thing left for us is to make the most of Wix settings and customization features. Fortunately, Wix has much to offer in this respect. If you discover, however, that your website requires more powerful optimization, you might need to complete the task on your own.
1. Adjust Optimization Features
First of all, have a look at the range of features Wix website builder offers. To start with, the platform comes with built-in optimization tools, which eliminate the need to independently set up SEO parameters or your Wix website. Instead, you can benefit from the integrated SEO Wiz tool that allows adjusting baseline parameters for effective project optimization. The system offers a detailed step-by-step guide that lets you complete the process as required. You can individually add meta tags for your website pages, anchor links, headings, redirects etc. Additionally, there is an opportunity to connect Google Analytics here for better statistics tracking.
2. Make Page Structure Clear
The good thing about Wix is the fact it comes with ready-made templates. The website builder has a set of integrated plugins, blocks or elements depending on the niche. They are designed to ensure maximum performance.
Of course, we are all eager to build a stylish and dynamic site as well as add some exclusive apps and plugins. The key mistake here is the more the worse. Each widget is a piece of code that loads the page and makes it harder for the server to send requests back as soon as possible.
Moreover, some apps are pretty complicated and require more server resources to be delivered in a proper way to the end-user. The key idea here is to keep it as simple as possible without the detriment to the project’s usability.
3. Avoid Too Many Visual Effects
Web design trends are evolving. They deliver new technologies and visual concepts to make the project as engaging and interactive as possible. Website builders follow those trends and Wix is not an exception. It comes with a set of animation features to enhance your project performance. For example, you may add a parallax effect to the header or on-page blocks with images, create animated icons that appear from both sides, implement visually appealing buttons as well as call-to-action blocks.
Adding too much of the animated features is not good. Users will hardly appreciate a website that looks like a billboard from the nearest gas station courtyard working round the clock. Try to keep it simple but trendy. Simplicity is the key to users’ satisfaction. Make it simple for them to find the page, section or product they need. Prevent them from the necessity to make their ways through endless colorful and annoying banners saying “get our free PDF”.
4. Give Preference to Text Over Design Elements
It’s no secret that text loads much faster as compared to other design elements, such as animations, videos or images. What’s more, a text header that loads fast has more chances to drive user attention by the main message of your website, thus, improving user browsing experience. Finally, your website will rank higher in the search engine results due to the availability of specific keywords.
5. Do Not Overload Your Homepage
A homepage should contain only must-have elements required to provide users with basic website information. Uploading too much media and content may have negative impact upon its load time. As a result, users may be overloaded by the info, which will distract them from the main web page content. As opposed to this, well-organized minimal content will make it possible for your website visitors to get the presented info during the first seconds they reach the resource.
6. Limit the Number of Third Party Apps
Third-party applications like social networks feeds, widgets, Google maps etc. are integrated directly to website pages. The fact that most of them use iFrames makes it possible to suggest that they may affect your website load speed. The more widgets you add – the more significant this negative influence may be and the longer users will have to wait for your website content to load.
Crucial tip #3: the best bet is to stick to the structure offered by a website builder. If you need a portfolio, use a portfolio template instead of editing an eCommerce mockup. Do not overload your site with animations and widgets. Give preference to text instead. Keep your project crystal clear and simple.
The Bottom Line
Keeping up good website load time is vital. First of all, it will ensure better usability in terms of users’ experience. Secondly, it will ensure higher traffic resulting in better conversion rates. The last but not least is improved SEO ranking. Search engines love sites with great page load speed. But what is more important, improved speed rates will result in better users’ engagement.
Wix website builder independently takes care of security and performance of projects it powers. Thus, users do not have multiple optimization capabilities. However, there are still a couple of must-have steps they can make to optimize the content as well as the page structure to make the project lightweight. Additionally, there is an opportunity to use professional Wix tools and third-party services to check your website load speed and to improve it, if required.
