Chances are you’ve landed here because you've opened your website performance dashboard, eager to see how well your business is doing, only to be confronted with a wall of technical jargon. It may seem intimidating at first, but we’re here to help you understand what it all means and why it’s important. So you'll see improvements in your site's performance in no time!

Website speed

You might think you know what website speed means, but what exactly gets measured and why does it matter? How fast is fast?
This one can be broken down into several categories:

  • Page speed – The time taken for the content on a web page to load
  • Time to title – The time it takes for a website’s title to appear in a browser tab
  • Time to interact – The time it takes before the visitor can interact with the web page

OK, so why is this all so vital? In today’s world of 15-second dancing videos and short attention spans, no one wants to wait for your website to load – especially when there are competitor sites that give people exactly what they want quickly.

Bounce rate

The bounce rate is the percentage of people who land on your website and leave (or ‘bounce’) as quickly as they arrived.

If your bounce rate is high it's a good indication that your page speeds are slow or your website isn’t mobile-friendly, which can really harm your SEO efforts. That being said, it could also mean that your landing pages are easy to consume and have answered their questions – a dream for content creators. So, it’s essential to also review the time visitors spend on each page. Finding the reason for a high bounce rate is vital, so that you can decide what your next steps are.

Conversion rate

Conversion rates are another crucial website performance metric that you don’t want to miss. It’s the percentage of users who take a desired action, like submitting a form or making a purchase. Of course, the outcome all depends on your goals.

A high conversion rate generally means that a page is performing well. If yours is low you should review your page speeds, the user experience and call to actions, as they may not be up to snuff.

Average session duration

The average session time is a measure of how long a visitor spends on your website. It’s a useful metric for determining how engaged your visitors are. If they spend more than a few minutes on your website, it’s safe to assume that your website is doing a good job and your content is valuable.

Alternatively if it’s low it could mean that it isn’t captivating enough, it’s slow or you’ve answered their query quickly. As much as you want to give a visitor the answers they're looking for, you also want them to spend some time looking at your site. This is where engaging content becomes crucial.

Scroll depth

Scroll depth tells you how far your visitors scroll down a web page – another way to evaluate the performance of your content. If they’re delving deep into each page, it’s generally a good sign.

It’s also useful to determine where you should place your most important content on a web page to attract more visitors and push your CTAs. Things that are vital for people to see first should be placed closer to the top, so they don't have to go searching. Plus, your design team can use the metric to create a better user experience.

Good websites need good hosting

Performance metrics still not hitting the spot? If you’re tired of slow, unreliable web hosting, it might be time to switch to a high-performing, scalable web hosting provider.

Our packages are jam-packed with everything you need to get started – from unlimited bandwidth to a 99.99% uptime guarantee. You won’t have to worry about poor performance again. Oh and we’re available 24/7 to support you in the event of an emergency! Talk about a good host.

Get in touch with us today to get started.