If your website is not ranking in Google, then one of the first things you need to check is its speed. To improve the user experience, Google penalizes sites that don’t load in under 3 seconds. Rather than assume you need to improve the search engine optimization (SEO) of your landing pages, instead you should ask ‘Why is my website running slow’?
Keep in mind that you need to test your website for both desktop and mobile devices. Google’s Mobile Index is set to become the primary search index, so mobile takes precedence. Avoid using pop-ups or videos that might slow down the loading process.
Tools for Measuring the Speed of Your Website
We offer you five free tools to help you determine the speed of your site. Each one provides different insights into how you can improve its performance. Hopefully, they can help you answer the question, ‘Why is my website running slow’?
Website Speed Test
To find out how long it takes for your site to load, input your URL into the Pingdom Website Speed Test. Their analysis is free, and you don’t have to register your site to get your results.
Their tool will show you the load time of your URL and how it compares to others that have been submitted over time. In addition to the raw numbers, this test returns details on how you can decrease your load time. You may find you need to make changes to your cache or make changes to your scripts. Your web developer can help you follow up on those recommendations to keep your website from running slow.
PageSpeed Insights is a similar tool to the Pingdom Website Speed Test. It assesses the rate optimization you already have in place. Knowing what is working is often just as valuable as knowing what is not. Also, if both websites return the same recommendations as a top priority, you know that those are areas you need to address.
How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site
If the top question on your mind is ‘why is my website running slow’ and you have a WordPress site, you can use the WPEngine Speed Tool.
Not only does the WPEngine Speed Tool test the amount of time it takes your URL to load, but it also details how to fix certain types of issues. For the person who knows a bit about web development, this tool can step you through the various repairs you can make to increase the speed of your WordPress website.
The level of detail provided by the WPEngine Speed Tool offsets the fact that you must register your site to get your analysis. Even though they require registration, the test itself is free.
While not specific to WordPress sites, the Web Page Performance Test gives all manner of data regarding your website’s performance. Both a Performance Review and a Content Breakdown provide valuable insight into ways you can improve performance and your customer’s experience. Remember, user experience plays a significant part in where Google places your site in their search results.
Why is my website running slow on Yahoo?
Google is not the only search engine out there. You need to make sure that your website is loading quickly on all of them. A handy tool for identifying issues on Yahoo is YSlow. Each search engine has a different set of criteria they use to determine to rank. YSlow evaluates your URL based on the 34 data points set forth by Yahoo.
What to Do If Your Website Is Running Slow
Each of the tools we mentioned above specifies how you can increase loading speed. However, what do you do to fix the problems? If you know a bit about web development, you might be able to make the changes yourself. If you don’t have the time or skills to deal with loading issues, then we are happy to help. Let us take on the challenge of speeding up your website and fixing loading problems. Never again do you need to wonder ‘why is my website running slow.’