How much does website performance impact conversion rates?

We’ve all been there. You click a link to visit a website and… nothing happens. Sitting and waiting in vain for a slow, clunky website to load can be such a pain!

Website performance isn’t just a technical issue; it has a direct impact on your bottom line, too. If your site is sluggish or unresponsive, potential customers will quickly abandon it, often heading straight to your competitors as an alternative.

On the other hand, a fast-loading and well-optimised site keeps users engaged and makes them more likely to take action, whether that’s signing up for a trial, subscribing to a newsletter or getting in touch.

So, how much does website performance really influence conversion rates, and what can you do to make sure your site is working as hard as it should? Let’s dive in.

The link between performance and conversions

Let’s start with some eye-opening stats:

• Google found that each one-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% drop in conversions.
• 53% of mobile users abandon a site if it takes over three seconds to load.
• Amazon discovered that every delay of 0.1 seconds in load time cost them 1% in sales.

It’s clear that slow websites can impact revenue as well as annoy visitors, but what exactly could this mean for your business’s bottom line? Let’s get into an example.

Small changes in performance can have a big impact on budgets

Let’s say your business wants to achieve 1,000 conversions via its website over the next year.

Average conversion rates for B2B website range from around 2% to 4%. If your website converts at 2%, you’ll need 50,000 visitors. But if you can double that to a 4% conversion rate, you only need 25,000 visitors.

Now imagine you’re using Google Ads to drive traffic, with an average cost-per-click of £2. At a 2% conversion rate, you’d be spending £100,000, but at 4%, that drops to £50,000.

That’s a £50,000 difference, just by making small improvements to the performance of your website.

Quick wins to improve your site’s performance

If your site feels sluggish, here are a few simple optimisations that can make a big difference:

• Compress images to reduce load time without compromising quality.
• Enable caching so frequently used data loads faster.
• Minimise HTTP requests by reducing unnecessary page elements.
• Remove excess plugins and scripts that slow things down.
• Consider upgrading your hosting as high-performance providers may be faster.

Give your website an extra boost with great UX

Once your site is running fast, the next step is ensuring it delivers a great user experience (UX). That’s what turns visitors into loyal customers.

Here’s what a conversion-friendly site should include:

• Mobile responsiveness (over 60% of traffic is now mobile)
• Simple, intuitive navigation
• Strong, clear calls to action
• Minimal distractions and clean design
• Easy-to-complete forms with helpful error handling

Why SEO and performance are interlinked

Google strongly factors website speed and performance into its search rankings. That means website speed doesn’t just affect conversions; it also influences how easily people can find your site in the first place.

Investing in performance improvements keeps existing users happy while also making sure potential new customers can find you.

Is your website up to speed?

If your website is no longer fit for purpose and you need support to get it to where it needs to be, contact us for an initial chat. We specialise in developing B2B and not-for-profit websites, from large, complex sites to landing pages for lead generation and internal intranets.