Increasing eCommerce Site Traffic and the Impact of Site Speed

Does Site Speed Impact eCommerce Traffic?

Quite frankly, yes. Site speed is critical for eCommerce traffic as search engines prioritize speed in their rankings, making it essential for website visibility and traffic. Additionally, site speed also directly impacts user experience since a fast-loading website keeps users engaged, reduces bounce rates, and increases the likelihood of conversions, especially in eCommerce. And, with more users browsing on mobile devices, the need to optimize site speed across multiple browsers and sizes is vital for ensuring a seamless experience across all devices and networks.

Impact of Site Speed on eCommerce Sites

Slow site speed also affects your website's SEO, as search engines like Google prioritize fast-loading sites in their rankings. With browsers placing so much emphasis on site speed, a slow-loading website can not only negatively impact search engine rankings, but also visitor and user experience impacting your overall business performance.

Even a lagging site speed can harm your brand's credibility, as visitors expect web pages to load almost instantly and if it doesn't, users may perceive the site, content, and company as outdated or unreliable. 

Strategies for Increasing Site Traffic

Knowing the importance of site speed, let's discuss a few ways to improve site speed in order to increase conversions and visitors. 

Optimize Search Engine (SEO)

Optimizing your search engine is crucial in increasing site traffic. and a great way to do that is by continuing to review and optimize your existing content. Keep your published content fresh by taking time, at least once a quarter to:

• Remove unnecessary content
• Avoid overlap in the existing content
• Remove outdated content
  

Using long-tail keywords and incorporating keywords into the body of your content is another great way to optimize your SEO. By incorporating relevant keywords you are assisting search engines in understanding the content of your page and match it to relevant user searches.

Another key idea is to optimize your search engine capabilities for mobile since nowadays, a vast majority of searches are conducted through a mobile devices like phones and tablets. Having an optimized search engine for mobile allows these users to also be able to see your webpages in a pleasing, clear layout.  

Content Marketing 

Content marketing is the idea of using content to attract, engage, and retain your target audience. Effective content addresses your target audience's needs, questions, and pain points, providing valuable information to the customer using clear and helpful content like blogs and infographics. 

Besides assisting the reader, High-quality content will serve as another avenue for improving SEO, assuming your content incorporates relevant keywords and backlinks.

Companies that prioritize blogging are 13 times more likely to see a positive ROI.

A study by HubSpot found that businesses that blog receive 97% more links to their websites. This is likely due to the additional webpage links blog posts provide which are keyword heavy, original writing, and crawlable by search engines. Beyond keywords, blogs  are a powerful tool for positioning your brand in your industry, building trust with potential customers, and encouraging customers to return to your site.

Consistently delivering valuable content boosts organic search traffic and increases engagement, conversion rates, and brand loyalty over time. 

Improving User Experience 

A fast loading site will also lead to an improved user experience (UX) and can increase site traffic by making it more enjoyable for visitors to navigate and interact with. When users have a positive experience, they are more likely to spend more time exploring your content, return for future visits, and share the site with others.

A positive user experience leads to more site traffic and lower bounce rates, increasing  the probability of conversion rates. 

By creating a fast site, strategically targeting relevant keywords, optimizing your content for search engines, and providing valuable information through content marketing, you can increase site traffic significantly. An enhanced user experience directly correlates with engaged visitors who explore more of your site, and are more likely to convert into loyal customers. 

Interested in leveling up your digital marketing efforts? Grow your online traffic and improve conversion rates with our digital marketing offers. Consider starting with our low-stress Digital Marketing Assessment to see where to get started.