We'll show you a few case studies where website performance optimization yielded obvious improvements in conversion rates, lower bounce rates and higher dwell time. You'll also learn more about what users appreciate more when it comes to website usability.
Improved conversions
Imagine trying to buy something in a physical store and the staff doesn’t respond to you when you need something. You would probably leave. The same applies to websites. Our attention span is rapidly shrinking, so a slow website not only tests the patience of your visitors but also triggers negative emotions, particularly feelings of unease and distrust. No prospective customer will make a purchase when their online experience evokes such emotions.
Case studies from various sources show how even milliseconds can have a great impact on your e-commerce store conversion rate. Let’s go over some findings that were made on a large number of samples.
In 2021 Vodafone ran an A/B test on a landing page, focusing on matrices like visitor rate, visitor-to-cart rate and conversion rate The results showed that optimizing Core Web Vitals (factors that focus on loading performance) had a positive impact on conversion rates. Tests conducted on two visually identical pages showed that an optimized landing page with 31% better LCP had an 8% increase in sales. Read more about why Core Web Vitals are crucial for your online business here.
In 2021 Yelp added some new features for advertisers. This resulted in increased page load times, increasing from 3 to 6 seconds and even more on mobile devices. This led them to examine how faster loading times could impact conversion rates. By reducing FCP (Core Web Vitals metric that measures the browser’s time spent rendering any image or text) from 3.35s to 1.80s (45% improvement) and TTI (metric that measures the time spent by a browser to fully load a page) from 4.32s to 3.21s (25% improvement) resulted in 15% increase in conversion rates.
In 2017 published a report where they analyzed data from over 10 billion visits to top retail sites. Findings showed that a 100-millisecond delay in website load time can lower conversion rate by 7%, a two-second delay in web page load time increases bounce rates by 103% and 53% of mobile site visitors will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. They concluded the report by saying that “Customers have extremely short attention spans and degradations in website performance – no matter how small – can cause consumers to go elsewhere in an instant.”
In 2019, eBay prioritized a company-wide initiative called “Speed”, focused on improving speed across all platforms. The goal was to make every site and app as fast as possible. Those efforts lead to higher user engagement, conversion, and ROI. In fact, for every 100 milliseconds improvement in search page loading time, eBay saw a 0.5% increase in the “Add to Cart” count.
In 2020, Propellernet did a page speed experiment with the intent of measuring its impact on conversion rates. Using real-time monitoring tools they found that users with above average page load time were 34% more likely to convert. In addition, users with above-average FCP were 32% more likely to convert, while users with above-average LCP were 27% more likely to convert. This data is too substantial to overlook.
- Case study – Amazon
Although conducted in 2006, the key takeaway still remains. Amazon found that even milliseconds matter when it comes to page speed and its influence on conversion rate. Results showed that every 100 milliseconds in added page load time costs them 1% in sales. At Amazon’s scale, this translates to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Improved usability
Usability is a term that describes how user-friendly a website is. Besides responsive design and properly sized elements, page speed is probably the main factor in determining page usability.
Now you may be wondering what are the characteristics of a website with high usability. Let’s go through the main ones:
- Instant interaction: When a user clicks, scrolls or interacts with elements on the page in any other way, the page should respond as fast as possible. Instant reaction gives the user satisfaction, a feeling of being in control and establishes trust.
- Navigation flow: Allowing users to navigate through pages without encountering delays.
- Fast transaction flow: Websites without long loading times during critical moments of purchase like cart, checkout or upsells, will always have higher conversion rates and customer return rates.
- Mobile responsiveness: Over 55% of website traffic comes from mobile devices. Making sure your website performs as well on mobile as on desktop resolution is crucial.
- Accessibility for everyone: Optimized websites guarantee accessibility for users across all internet speeds. Whether navigating through high-speed connection or slower networks.
Lower bounce rate and higher dwell time
The bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave the site after viewing only one page. The most common reasons for that to happen are slow response time and therefore limited usability. As we pointed out earlier, the attention span of users is rapidly decreasing. Every second passed increases the chance that the user will bounce from your site.
That brings us to a term called “dwell time”. It measures the duration a visitor spends on your website and it is a key metric reflecting user engagement. A well-designed and speed-optimized website will guide the user from one section to another without causing negative emotions. This contributes to a better overall user experience which leads to deeper connections, increased brand awareness and a higher chance of conversions which is the ultimate goal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a fast website isn’t just a tech thing; it’s a crucial part of your online business. A quick site makes visitors happy, guiding them smoothly to become customers. It’s not just about speed; it’s about making your site work for everyone, whether they’re on fast Wi-Fi or a slower connection. With a fast-responding site, more people stick around (lower bounce rate) and hang out longer (higher dwell time), boosting your online success.
