In recent years we have experienced many digital marketing innovations such as AI and Machine Learning, Social Media, Google Ads with sophisticated interfaces, and Advanced Data Analytics which dive deep into conversations and customers’ data. As an outcome, performance marketing became a labyrinth as everyone wants to build digital funnels that convert prospects to sales. However, most successful recipe elements are constantly ignored by the vast majority of marketers, namely a critical parameter that contributes highly to results—website speed.

You can easily check your website’s performance by using Google PageSpeed’s insights for free. Our website scores in the Top-1%, and you can type any URL you wish. (It will take approximately 30 seconds for Google to come back with results).

At Enso Digital, we have been inspired by the study ‘Milliseconds make Millions’ made by Deloitte Digital and commissioned by Google. It is a real gem for professionals to demystify the reason for this occurrence, and secondly, use their corporate website as a selling tool that delivers nothing but results.

Consumers do not like slow pages. The race for better speed started at the beginning of the internet, and now with 4G, we can have access to information rapidly, in a matter of milliseconds. The website’s loading time, the E-commerce store, or the Landing Page is essential for a positive customer experience. But why is it not on the top of the list? Why do marketers keep avoiding that discussion and focusing solely on aesthetics or content? It is evident that although they know the importance of page speed, most marketers do not have it as a priority.

To find answers, let’s dive into the report and extract some interesting findings:

A. If the business makes a small improvement to mobile speed, it receives a significant positive effect on the brand and the sales. As presented: ‘Results showed that a mere 0.1s change in load time can influence every step of the user journey, ultimately increasing conversion rates. Conversions grew by 8% for retail sites and by 10% for Travel sites on average.’

B. Consumers use mobile more, especially during the pandemic, where they could collect information without being in front of a desktop computer all the time. Nowadays, mobile is the first digital touchpoint; users have more expectations from responsive websites, and believe it or not, willingness to purchase is directly linked with page speed. The bottom line is that we currently have a highly competitive market, and if you have a fast mobile experience, you sell more. As mentioned,‘When mobile site speed improved we also observed a positive change in number of page views, conversion rates, and average order value’ and ‘An 8.4% increase in conversions with retail consumers was observed, and an increase in average order value of 9.2%.’

C. We all know that referrals and customer advocacy play a key role to lower CPAs (Cost per Acquisition). They also help achieve improved brand awareness, positive word of mouth, and higher quality score on social media platforms. Here the findings were impressive: ‘A 2019 study ran by Google in Denmark, demonstrated that on average consumers were 10% more willing to recommend a web shop if load-time was reduced from 13 seconds to 10 seconds. A further reduction from 10 seconds to 3 seconds gave an estimated 26% increase in advocacy.’

In a nutshell, speed matters, and it matters a lot. A fact that is measurable and easy to understand across your organisation. Below are a few initial steps that we suggest putting on your to-do list:

• Optimise your website by using Google’s guidelines and have a truly mobile-first website. Having just a mobile version is not enough.
• Try to optimise files, visuals and avoid unnecessary plugins and scripts. No matter the layout or the design, a photo of 1MB will not help.
• Reduce redirects to another page or external website. Each time your website redirects your visitor faces additional time to load the request-response cycle.

At Enso digital, we take Google’s recommendations for speed very seriously. Our goal is to help you achieve results and to sell more. A faster and optimised website, e-commerce or landing page will enhance the visitor experience and improve all your key performance indicators.

References:

https://unbounce.com/page-speed-report/

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ie/Documents/Consulting/Milliseconds_Make_Millions_report.pdf

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-154/search/#?query=Mobile&page=0&sort_field=date

https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/