One crucial element to consider when looking at a website design for doctors is speed. A web page that loads slowly can impact both website performance and search engine optimization rankings, not to mention costing you potential patients. According to LoadStorm, one out of every four visitors will leave a website that takes more than four seconds to load, and 74% of visitors will leave after five seconds. Because site speed is a primary factor in how Google ranks websites, a slow site speed will also hurt your SEO medical practice ranking. Keep reading to find out more about issues that cause slow site speed and how to solve them.
Five reasons behind slow website speed
These five common issues may be affecting your site speed. The good news is they can be fixed!
1. Large media files or too many images
The graphics or media files attached to your site can create a longer load time. There is so much information in large media files or an overabundance of images that the site needs more time to process. Simply reducing the number of media files can help your site run faster.
2. Your web host is unable to meet the needs of the site
There are many options for hosting providers, all of which come with a different price tag. If you chose a less expensive hosting option, you may need to upgrade it. The quality and speed of your host will directly impact the speed of your website.
3. The site is weighed down by plugins
When it comes to plugins, the three most common issues are having too many plugins, using outdated or low-quality plugins, and running plugins on your server’s resources. These cause problems because a higher number of plugins means the site has to do more work as it loads and therefore loads more slowly. Rather than using a different plugin for every function or feature, find the ones that can manage multiple aspects simultaneously.
4. You need a better quality theme
Many free, low-quality themes are available, but they come with the risk of viruses or hidden spyware that can significantly reduce website speed. Outdated themes can also be more vulnerable to viruses. You can solve this problem by only using current themes from trusted sources.
5. Your JavaScript or cascading style sheets are too long
Because the CSS tell the web browser what colors, font, header, menu, etc. to load, longer or inefficient ones can result in an increased web page load time. There is often irrelevant information, line breaks, or unnecessary spaces in these sheets, which also increases load time. Two solutions to this problem are looking for duplicate or unnecessary code and compressing the file using minifiers.
Attract more visitors to your website
A fast, attractive website can play a large role in online medical marketing and gaining new patients. Doctor Genius knows just how valuable a well-designed, optimized website can be, which is why optimizing and creating responsive websites are two critical services we offer our clients. Reach out to us today to talk to a trained team member about the difference we could make for your website. Take charge of one of the most important tools in attracting new patients and growing your practice.
Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.
