We recently discussed how eCommerce retailers have no choice but to optimize page load times if they want to make sure customers don’t give up and leave before completing a purchase. Part one covered the issues you might find on the back end of your website that are slowing down page load times and some ways to address them.
Today, we’re looking at some frontend UI/UX issues that could be slowing you down.
According to the HTTP Archive, the benchmark for page size as of May 2016 is 2.46 MB. Everything from JavaScript and CSS files to images and pop-ups can contribute to this size and slow down page load time. So how can you reduce the size of your web pages?
Images tend to comprise 50-60% of the weight of most web pages:
Images aren’t the only elements swelling on web pages. Page complexity, and thus the resources it takes to load a page, is also increasing. Here are some examples of these resource intensive elements:
Did you miss part one of this series?
As a retailer, you’re probably very busy preparing for the holiday shopping season. There’s no shortage of articles and blogs right now with helpful tips, and as they all probably say, you have to prioritize site performance. Let’s face it, if the page doesn’t load, the shopper can’t shop and they certainly can’t buy. So how do you know if your site performs adequately? Let’s take a quick look at the most important site performance metrics and what you should, and can, do to make sure your site is ready for the 2016 holiday shopper onslaught.
Obviously, page load time matters, a lot, when it comes to consumer engagement and conversion, but let’s look at the numbers that matter. There’s a common performance benchmark in eCommerce that a page should load, often referred to as the “Time To Interact” or TTI, in three seconds or less. If your pages take longer to load, it’s widely accepted that 25% of shoppers will leave (even more if you’re talking about mobile users.)
Testing your site’s TTI isn’t as simple as just opening the site and running a stop watch. Page rendering is affected by both front-end (UI/UX) and server components. Every element takes time to complete its operation and the cumulative time it takes is the total “page load.”
Let’s look at the backend issues affecting performance first. (Check out part 2, where we address frontend UI/UX issues).
The server side primarily refers to your code optimization and the hardware it runs on.
Your developers should analyze the code and database queries to make sure everything is running efficiently. You can try tools such as HTML Tidy and Websitetest.com.
At the code level, developers may need to clean up and streamline the code (i.e. reduce whitespace, line breaks and excessive spacing); reduce the number of JavaScripts on the page and/or put them at the bottom of the page; add indexes, and rewrite/modify database queries.
You may uncover that the server and bandwidth are an issue. At Hostway, our engineers are experts at reviewing source server(s) and preparing an itemized inventory report of the all the digital assets on the server side. Our full project lifecycle approach starts with consultation, architecture, migration planning, and continues through execution, go-live, and post-migration maintenance and support.
While caching web pages is commonly recommended to decrease page load time, it isn’t always possible, or a good solution. Pages that require login/authentication can’t be cached. Pages that are updated frequently aren’t good candidates either as changes won’t load until the page cache has expired.
In order to get a true picture of site performance you need to test a steadily increasing number of concurrent users for hits to the site and transactions. Start with the average concurrent users you have today and test for peaks in traffic that will come with promotions, holiday shopping, an email blast, etc. If you have users nationwide or internationally, be sure to test across locations.
Each step of the way, you’ll monitor response and latency time, the number of hits per second, the throughput of your website, and if any errors are present.
Hostway offers consultation on solutions to increase performance with the right technology to get your site to where it needs to be. We can provide best practices IT architecture advice to build the right technology platform to keep up with all of your promotions, events and increasing concurrent users. Each solution is tailored specifically to a customer’s need.
Learn more about what you should expect from your hosting provider when it comes to your website's performance>>>
Emil Sayegh, our CEO, spoke at the NexGen Cloud Conference and Expo telling the audience, “It's not all about cloud."
That’s a catchy quote, for sure, but there is a whole lot more meaning behind it, which is based on our experience working with customers. Emil was also quoted as saying, "I cannot describe to you how many companies come to us and say, 'We are overspending with AWS, overspending with Azure."
Hybrid cloud is a construct that solves a lot of problems and eliminates a lot of risks associated with the traditional cloud.
Emil says that hybrid infrastructure connecting clouds with on-premises networks, for most customers, is the right solution. Some workloads are great sitting in the cloud. Others, often those with predictable loads, like databases, typically achieve greater cost efficiencies on dedicated gear.
Read this CRN article for a full report on Emil’s remarks at NexGen.
As we think about what we are thankful for during this month that is best known for turkey and tradition, I can’t help but be so grateful for Hostway’s customers and employees.
In this time of gratitude, we give thanks first to our customers, who have put their trust in us. We value your patronage and appreciate your confidence in us. Counting you among our customers is something for which we are especially grateful. We are grateful for the pleasure of serving you and meeting your needs for reliable hosting and managed services.
I would also like to personally thank each and every Hostway employee for serving our customers, and each other. From maintaining the Web and IT infrastructure of 500,000 customers from around the world, to getting them up and running as fast as possible, to being there 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer any question our customers may have, they all make me so proud to be part of this amazing Hostway family. Special thanks to all the Hostway employees working during this holiday, away from their families, in order to keep our customers worry free.
I know Thanksgiving may not be observed everywhere, but I wanted to take some time to send a little bit of thankfulness from our small corner of the world. The team at Hostway wishes everyone around the world a very special Thanksgiving and upcoming holiday season. May the spirit of the season be with you all. Thank you for your loyalty, support and partnership.
-Emil
@esayegh
Let us know in the comments what you're thankful for. You can also join us on Facebook or Twitter. We'd love to hear from you!
IT organizations often leverage Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to maximize return on scarce resources – doing more with less. In the case of cloud hosting, by outsourcing activities ranging from day-to-day infrastructure support to cloud migrations and application-level support, organizations effectively have a dedicated team of IT professionals looking out for their best interest at all times, without the headcount burden.
A 2015 CompTIA study found that nearly two-thirds of organizations used the services of an outsourced IT company during the previous 12 months. In addition, the market for managed services continues to expand, with MarketsandMarkets predicting it will be worth 242.45 Billion USD by 2021. This is an important indicator that businesses are finding managed services – and cloud hosting services in general – to be worth the investment.
Let's take a look at some key benefits of partnering with a cloud hosting provider that offers managed services and support, like Hostway:
Increased productivity is one of the main reasons for investing in managed services. By handling your cloud operations and managing your infrastructure, providers can give time back to your IT department – time that staff can spend working on innovative and higher return projects for your business.
The productivity benefits go deeper than that, too. What happens when one of your employees leaves your organization or goes on vacation for an extended period of time? With the traditional business model, you may have to hire and train a new employee, and it can take a while to get the individual up to speed. With a managed service provider, however, the expertise is always there, only a phone call away.
"A MSP not only has the resources and ability to find the right people and keep them abreast of industry trends, it has built-in bench strength ready to plug in as needed," said Paul Tuttle, a senior technology consultant at Warwick Communications, in an interview with Smart Business. "You don't have to worry about what happens when your IT person goes on vacation, has a sick day or finds a better paying job."
One particular way organizations can save money is by strengthening event detection and response strategies by incorporating managed service and support into their overall IT strategy.
One of the biggest negative contributors to a company's bottom line is the cost that comes with unplanned outages. Even a small amount of downtime can have a significant impact on the business – Gartner VP of Research Andrew Lerner noted in 2014 that the average cost per minute for downtime is somewhere around $5,600. Managed support teams can help cut losses sustained during an event such as this by leveraging business continuity services to quickly find and rectify the problem within your network.
Carolyn April, senior director of industry analysis at CompTIA, noted that partnering with an MSP can bring a much-needed, fresh perspective to any organization's IT strategy. In freeing up existing staff to work on other projects, companies can harness their employees' creative energy for more than just operations management. Cloud hosting providers offer managed support and services for infrastructure as well as applications in some cases, effectively assuming responsibility for all day-to-day operational activities associated with ensuring the entire solution operates smoothly.
"It elevates the IT staff and brings them out of the shadows within the organization," April said. "It allows them to focus on a custom app dev project or cloud initiative – something highly strategic. I think that's a win-win for your IT staff."
No matter what vertical your company operates within, you've probably heard about the benefits of migrating applications and data to the cloud. According to Statista, spending on public cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service hardware and software will grow to $173 billion in 2026, up from $38 billion in 2016. This is a clear indication that cloud application adoption – be it private, public or a hybrid cloud – is ticking upward, and companies that haven't gotten on board yet with the cloud are going to be left behind.
That being said, migrating to the cloud can be a daunting task if you take it on yourself. This is where an experienced cloud hosting provider, offering a managed IT assessment and migration service, can be hugely beneficial. A highly specialized skillset is required to identify and prioritize applications that can be moved to the cloud, uncover risks and dependencies, refactor applications and ultimately manage the migration. Don’t try to do it alone. Hire a professional.
In some cases, cloud hosting providers offer managed service and support all the way through the application layer. For example, with managed Magento support from Hostway, retailers can rest easy knowing that the entire Magento environment is monitored by Magento-Certified Solutions specialists around the clock. Hostway’s accountability-as-a-service model provides ongoing support beyond the basic configuration and installation of the Magento software – covering things like proactive troubleshooting, patching and monitoring.
You can achieve these benefits and more by partnering with a reputable cloud hosting provider, such as Hostway.
For more information about how managed support can make a difference in your organization, check out our white paper >>>