We all know that our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter as we use computers more and more. You’ll definitely know all about it if you are online frequently — every single day you are smashing through waves of useless information, advertisements, mysterious popups, SPAM, and an insurmountable volume of “business opportunities” and quick fix pills on offer.

So, who wins out of this cyber battle for your customer’s attention?

Well, I’ll tell you who doesn’t win…

It’s the slow, clunky websites. You can have the most beautiful website, but if it’s too slow, no one will stick around to check it out.

Think about it in terms of the offline world too — if you ring somebody and get stuck on hold for any longer than it takes to boil a kettle, you’ll go straight to the competition and likely leave disparaging comments on their Facebook page.

Humans hate pointless waiting — it makes us feel like we aren’t important, and it frustrates us. We know this psychologically makes people far less likely to buy from you.

This leads us to some extremely pertinent issues you need to be aware of for your 2015 online efforts…

1. Google despises slow websites

Google consistently creates extremely fast-loading web pages, from their maps and Gmail to their search results. They know the value of customer satisfaction, and they expect the rest of us to be the same. Google has recently bumped the importance of “Page Load Speed” into their algorithms, meaning if your website is too slow, it is punishing your ability to climb to the top.

In addition — Google also punishes sites that have a high “bounce rate”, which is the percentage of people who leave your site just as quickly as they got there. Having a fast site helps to reduce this; if your site is too slow, people will leave sooner.

2. Slow sites kill conversions

Think about the last time you tried to call the ATO, your bank, or your utilities provider. That same “I want to throw my phone through the wall” feeling happens to your customers online too.

If your site loads fast, your customers will read your site more thoroughly, they’ll be in a better mood, and will be more inclined to stay on your page and buy your goods or services.

If you have a slow website, the opposite will naturally happen. Your customers will get cranky that your website is hard to use and slow to load, and they will, in turn, get frustrated and most likely skip to a competitor — and why shouldn’t they?

How slow is too slow?

Over 5 seconds = public riots and national security breaches will occur due to the extreme levels of public irritation.

3-5 seconds = bearable for consumers over 30, but consumers under 30 will likely write snarky comments on your YouTube channel to express their frustrations.

3-1.5 seconds = better than most websites, but still room for improvement — especially if you have a lot of content on different pages (such as an e-commerce store where visitors hit a large number of pages).

Less than 1.5 seconds = perfect conditions for profitable sailing.

Giving your customer concise, fast, timely information and an environment that encourages purchasing is actually not difficult online — but it is something often neglected. Business is all about change and trying to take advantage of that change, so give your website the upper hand.

For more info and assistance on getting your website humming into top gear, get in touch with us. In addition to Website Design, we also offer Google AdWords, Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services from our headquarters in Brisbane. Get in touch with the Bambrick team today to discuss your digital marketing goals.