Page Speed Challenges for Real Estate Websites
Page Speed & Web Performance Optimization Matters
In the online real estate business, the speed of your website is an essential component of success.
That’s why, as a leading provider of real estate websites and SEM services, we at Real Estate Webmasters placed so much emphasis on site speed when developing our latest Renaissance platform.
As such, Renaissance sites are well-optimized right out of the box, with lightning fast load times on both desktop and mobile.
However, when subsequent changes bring that performance down, that’s when you need to know how to accurately assess site performance and make the necessary adjustments.
That’s why we decided to run a Web Performance Optimization (WPO) challenge to show just what’s possible with only a few hours of work.
More on that in a bit. But first…
Why Page Speed Is Important
Page speed is important for a number of reasons.
First, page speed is a known ranking factor. Search engines such as Google have made it clear that site speed is a critical element in determining search engine rankings. Websites with faster load times tend to rank higher in search results than those that are slower.
Second, faster load times improve user experience and engagement. Users are more likely to stay on a website longer if it loads quickly, leading to increased engagement and a lower bounce rate. A slow website can be frustrating for users, leading them to abandon the site and look for a faster alternative.
And page speed is especially important in real estate. With more and more home buyers and sellers turning to the internet to search for properties, the need for speed is crucial as consumers demand immediate access to accurate and up-to-date property listings.
However, real estate websites also face unique challenges when it comes to Web Performance Optimization.
- Real estate websites are often loaded with high-quality images, videos, and virtual tours, which can significantly slow down loading times.
- Real estate websites often feature advanced search functions, increasing database queries and server response times.
Free WPO for Renaissance Users
Back in August of 2022 we gave five free hours to participating clients with mobile performance scores lower than 70 according to Google’s PageSpeed Insights.
We then put the challenge to various teams at REW to try and bring those scores up as much as possible.
Some of the results were very impressive, with several clients seeing significant improvements in their scores. For example, My NC Homes improved from 52 to 93!
Improving The Speed Of Your Real Estate Website
Now, every site is different, and what slows down one may not be what slows down another.
However, there tend to be a few common culprits with some effective solutions. Here are strategies that our teams used to bring up those WPO scores:
- Reducing image size: We reduce the dimensions and switch to next-generation formats like WebP. We also run images through a compressor to make them even smaller and implement lazy loading.
- Avoiding third-party scripts: We minimize anything that requires getting data from off your site, such as embedded videos, ads, buttons, various trackers, and widgets.We find which ones are slowing you down and assess their usefulness.
- Changing load order: You can also change where you place scripts so their loading doesn’t affect the primary page experience as much. For example, you can embed videos on less important pages where users might not mind the slower load times.
- Reducing server response time: Cache resource-heavy features, optimize queries, and optimize/reduce requests.
Ultimately, there are many strategies for improving a site's performance. These include browser caching, minimizing HTTP requests, and using content delivery networks (CDN).
These may seem overly technical, but most of the work can be done with optimizing images, keeping your site relatively simple, and of course, using a platform that's fast from the get-go.
By implementing these strategies, you can ensure faster loading times, reduced bounce rates, and improved user experience.
If my site is built for speed - then why is it slow?
Our Renaissance websites are built to have optimal WPO straight out of the box, but there are factors that can slow them down, like user added content or third party applications.
You may have a Ferrari, but if you try to carry a fridge on top, it's going to be slower.
To get the most out of your Renaissance website, work with your account manager to evaluate your site’s performance and optimize your content to ensure that your site is running at peak performance.
With REW's help, you can achieve a fast, high-performing website that keeps users engaged and drives conversions.
Looking for out-of-the-box performance from your real estate website? Get started with Renaissance from Real Estate Webmasters.