Let’s talk about website speed.
Lots of things go into making a website fast – from design and code to servers, images, and even add-ons and extras you may not even think about.
Website performance measures how fast technology is able to bring all of this to your customers' eyeballs. As a business owner (and website builder), speed matters to you because it matters to your customers.
People aren’t patient. If your site isn’t loaded up and ready to rock in a second or two, your visitors will simply click away. A fast site lets customers interact with your brand right away and sets them on the path to buying or booking.
Speed also matters to Google. (A LOT!) Google studies how people browse and buy on the internet all day, every day. Google knows that speed – especially on mobile phones – is a huge factor for how a site will ultimately perform for customers.
Remember, Google's mission is to serve up only the hottest, freshest, and most useful websites. The better your website works for customers, the more Google will reward you with higher rankings and more customers delivered through search.
So, how do you get yourself a super fast website? Performance really boils down to a handful of things:
Streamlined Code
Fast code makes a huge difference, and extra scripts, CSS and animations can weigh a website down from the start. When you use a website builder, you begin with a pre-made template that already includes most of the code needed to create your finished website.
If your template is full of junk, there's no way to strip out bulky, slow code. Templates that load slowly will perform poorly no matter what you do.
When you're looking for a fast provider, start by running some sites through a speed test like Google PageSpeed Insights. You'll see really quickly which builders run consistently slow and which are lightning fast.
The good news is we've already done this for you! Turns out PhotoBiz ranks #1 for speed among the world's most popular website platforms. Twice as fast as Wix, and up to 5x faster than Squarespace. That's fast!
Fast Servers
Websites live on the internet, which is actually just a huge collection of servers all linked together. Surprise! Server speeds matter, too. Faster servers that have more connections can beam your site to customers' phones and laptops faster, so make sure your host is lightning fast and always on.
PhotoBiz uses top-tier servers to deliver your content in the blink of an eye, no matter where your customers live! We keep our technology up to date so you can enjoy the fastest websites in the world.
Right-Sized Images
You've gotta make sure your images fit the device your customers are using to view your site. That way tiny pictures aren't fuzzy & blown up on big screens... and you're not waiting an hour for HUMONGOUS photos to load on your phone.
Right-sizing images can be tricky for all 900,000 screen sizes. But smart builders (gee, like PhotoBiz!) know how to accommodate your website images so they fit on any screen. Making your site Mobile Responsive means images are optimized for the device they're on. We make sure your images are right-sized so they load fast and always look fabulous.
Optimized Add-Ons
PhotoBiz sites come with a full suite of tools and features like custom forms, image galleries, slideshows, proofing events, blogs, pop-ups, and sticky bars. These native features are designed to help your site load quickly without extra plug-ins, add-ons, or scripts.
You don't have to embed these tools with extra code, they just work!
Any time you add in extra code, your website slows down a little bit. PhotoBiz sites do accommodate embedded features, but those apps will impact your overall processing speed. The key is prioritizing what matters to you.
One way to reduce slow speed due to extra scripts is to use the native PhotoBiz products that will run faster and work similarly to your other apps and tools.
If you have questions about your favorite apps and wonder if they can be moved to faster PhotoBiz tools, please get in touch and we will help you come up with a streamlined solution. Our support team is available at 866-463-7620 Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM. We are always glad to assist you!
What if you like your apps? You can, of course, keep them! But the placement of these embedded tools can make all the difference.
For example: everyone lands on your homepage, so you want it to load fast and clean. If you have a resource-heavy embedded form right on your homepage... consider moving it to its own dedicated contact page.
Most people will want to click through a few pages before contacting you, anyway. You'll majorly speed things up by making your homepage load ASAP. Plus, your customers will be able to sign up at a natural point in your sales funnel. Win-win-win!
Questions? We Are Here To Help!
If you have any questions on how to make your PhotoBiz site faster, we are happy to help! PhotoBiz 8 is the #1 fastest website builder for photographers, especially on mobile devices. We want to help you use your website and all of the tools and features included so that you can build your best site that works great for your business. Let us know how we can help, and our friendly Passionate Support Team will get right on it!