Best Way To Maximize Revenue: Website Performance Optimization

One of the best kept secrets in the world of high-traffic websites: optimizing your website tech stack leads to significantly increased revenue. In this main stage talk from the recent Omeda OX7 Idea Exchange, learn how website performance optimization can generate 50%+ more monthly recurring revenue for high-traffic websites. Featuring commentary from Kane Russell, and former National Review Chief Publisher: Garrett Bewkes. 

tl;dr

View full presentation slides here; the most important being: 

Via website performance optimization, the National Review:

• Increased ad viewability +18%
• Desktop revenue +24%, mobile revenue +58%
• Homepage Lighthouse scores +97%, articles Lighthouse scores +221% 

Understanding the Importance of Website Performance Optimization

One of the most important aspects of effectively running an enterprise website is ensuring that it performs well. Website performance optimization is the process of improving the speed, responsiveness, and overall website user experience, including optimizing various aspects of the website's tech stack, including the server infrastructure, codebase, and content delivery network (CDN). By optimizing the website's performance, businesses can provide a better user experience, which can lead to increased user engagement, higher conversion rates, and ultimately, higher revenue.

For analogy's sake, think of a city trying to grow revenue. Sure it can add more stores and restaurants. But what if instead it upgraded its underlying infrastructure to make it easier and more seamless for consumers to transact? 

Same goes for high-traffic websites. When a website performs poorly, visitors are more likely to leave the site and look for alternatives. Slow load times, unresponsive pages, and other performance issues can frustrate users and discourage them from exploring a website further or making a purchase.

On the other hand, a fast and responsive website can leave a positive impression on users, encourage them to stay longer, and increase the likelihood of conversions. Therefore, understanding the importance of website performance optimization is crucial for businesses focused on maximizing their revenue.

Key Factors Impacting Website Performance Optimization

There are several key factors that can impact the performance of a website. These factors include:

1. Server Response Time: The time it takes for the server to respond to a user's request can greatly affect website performance. A slow server response time can result in longer load times and a poor user experience.
2. Page Load Time: The time it takes for a web page to fully load is another important factor. Users expect web pages to load quickly, and a slow page load time can lead to high bounce rates and decreased user satisfaction.
3. Code Efficiency: The efficiency of the website's code can also impact performance. Well-optimized code can reduce load times and improve overall website responsiveness.
4. Image and File Optimization: Large image and file sizes can slow down a website. Optimizing images and files can help reduce load times and improve performance.

While running the National Review, Garrett Bewkes saw that many of these metrics were a drag not just on user experience, but traffic and revenue as well. He addressed these challenges of poor performance by upgrading his tech stack to headless. 

Strategies for Improving Website Performance

To improve website performance, website portfolio operators can employ various strategies, including:

• Caching: Implementing caching mechanisms can help reduce the load on the server and improve response times. Caching can be done at different levels, including browser caching, server-side caching, and CDN caching.
• Content Delivery Network (CDN): Utilizing a CDN can help distribute website content across multiple servers located in different geographic regions. This can improve load times for users around the world.
• Code Optimization: Optimizing the website's code can help reduce the file size and improve its efficiency. This can be achieved through techniques like minification, compression, and code refactoring.
• Image Optimization: Optimizing images by compressing them without significant loss in quality can help reduce the file size and improve load times.
• Database Optimization: Optimizing database queries and indexes can help improve the speed at which data is retrieved and processed, leading to faster page load times.

The beauty of headless architecture is that you can solve all of these problems simultaneously. That's exactly what Garrett did while at the National Review, to these significant revenue benefits: 

• Increased ad viewability +18%
• Desktop revenue +24%, mobile revenue +58%
• Homepage Lighthouse scores +97%, articles Lighthouse scores +221% 

Measuring the Impact of Website Performance Optimization

Measuring the impact of website performance optimization is essential to determine the effectiveness of the implemented strategies and identify areas for further improvement. There are several metrics that can be used to measure website performance, including:

• Page Load Time: This metric measures the time it takes for a web page to fully load. By monitoring and analyzing page load times, businesses can assess the impact of performance optimization efforts.
• Conversion Rates: Monitoring the conversion rates can help determine whether website performance improvements lead to an increase in user engagement and conversions.
• Bounce Rates: Bounce rates indicate the percentage of users who leave a website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate poor website performance.
• User Engagement Metrics: Metrics such as average session duration, pages per session, and click-through rates can provide insights into user engagement and the impact of performance optimization.

You can learn more by reading our Grow-Book, which breaks down exactly how to measure website performance optimization.  

Case Studies: Successful Implementation of Website Performance Optimization

Real-world case studies can provide valuable insights into the successful implementation of website performance optimization. Here are a few examples:

• The Drive improved page load time by +56%, and session duration +21%

• Top Class Actions used website performance optimization to increase RPM by 24%

These case studies highlight the tangible benefits of website performance optimization and demonstrate how businesses can achieve significant improvements in revenue by prioritizing performance. Please watch the video presentation here: 

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