The Top 7 Issues That Could Be Affecting Your Website’s Performance

Recently (and in the past) we have discussed the importance of your website’s performance. From lost customers and pages that don’t convert well to a hit to your search engine rankings, performance really does matter. In the past we have discussed how to help with specific performance issues in general. Now we will look at the top seven issues that tend to affect website performance and could be causing your website’s performance to take a dive.

1. Poorly Written Code

Outsourcing code to overseas service providers is becoming a common trend. Unfortunately, not all coders are created equal. Code that isn’t up to snuff can cause serious problems for your website. Code that isn’t written properly can lead to memory leaks and algorithms that don’t produce the desired effects. If your website’s code has been written very poorly, it can even result in application deadlocks. Because of this, it’s important to remember that you should never step over dollars to pick up dimes. Hiring a quality coding professional is worth every penny and can save you future headaches and prevent website performance issues. If you aren’t sure if your code is up to par, have it reviewed by a professional to see if any improvements can be made to speed up your site’s performance.

2. Inferior Databases

If a database is inferior or unoptimized it can and will affect the application that is associated with that database. In fact, one of the major causes of website downtime is database issues. Make sure all databases are optimized to ensure the best possible performance in terms of your website. Also make sure you are using the most efficient and effective databases you possibly can.

3. Improperly Managed Data Growth

How well your web applications perform will depend on well you monitor your data and manage it. Data systems tend to degrade over time. Make sure you allocate appropriate storage for any data growth and investigate different data storage options, such as layered solutions. The goal is to use the right data systems, avoid the degradation of your systems, and keep them in optimal condition at all times.

4. Not Enough Server Resources

Server resources are a huge area of concern when it comes to website performance. The company that your website is hosted with hosts your site on a server that has a limited amount of resources. If there is more traffic than the server resources can handle, your site’s performance takes a drastic dive. Because of this, it’s never a good idea to use a shared hosting (as more than one website is using the same server’s resources in these cases). Instead, look into a virtual private server if you don’t have the budget for a dedicated server. If you do need dedicated hosting and your site is very large (think Amazon and Facebook), your site may even need more than one dedicated server to provide the necessary resources. The goal is to ensure that you have hosting in place that provides a server that can handle any increased traffic your site may experience without slowing down (or shutting down) your website.

5. A Poorly-Performing Hosting Provider

Just as all coders aren’t created equal, neither are all hosting companies. If you take every possible measure to increase your website’s performance and it’s still sluggish, the problem may be with the hosting provider itself. In cases like this, it’s time to move on to a hosting provider that won’t slow down your site’s speed and performance.

6. Asset-Intensive Plugins

Plugins can be wonderful and beneficial tools. They can also cause serious problems with the performance of your website. Each plugin functions in a unique way and offers different feature sets. The plugins that run database queries and require significant assets can drastically slow down your website’s performance. If you look at the plugins you are using and find that you are using some that perform database calls and queries, try to replace them with similar plugins that aren’t as resource-intensive.

7. Failure to Partner with a Quality Website Monitoring Service

One of the biggest mistakes online businesses make is a failure to monitor their websites using a quality website monitoring service. This type of service not only tells you when your site goes down as soon as it goes down (allowing you to get to work as soon as possible to fix the problem) but can also give you insight into performance issues that your website may be having. This allows you to fix a problem with your website before it has a significant impact on your business’s bottom line.

Content is No Longer King

They used to say that content was king in the world of online businesses. While it’s true that content matters, it’s no longer king. In today’s day and age, performance is king. Especially when you consider that inferior performance can harm your online business in numerous ways. By addressing some of the most common performance issues in this post, you can ensure that you are giving the performance of your website the priority it deserves and needs in order to thrive.