Site speed is hugely important when it comes to SEO.

Don’t just take our word for it though.Here’s what happens from a seemingly insignificant one-second increase in a web page’s load time:Pageviews decrease by 11%Customer satisfaction goes down by 16%Conversion rate decreases by 7%CrazyEgg, the company that completed the study above, found that 47% of people expect a web page to load in two seconds or less.You need to give your visitors what they want and fast.If you can’t, they’ll vote with their mice - usually back to the search results and straight onto your competitor’s lightning-fast site instead.Now, while a two-second load time may be somewhat unrealistic (Machmetricsfound that the average site loads in 8.66 seconds), you need to do everything in your power to stop haemorrhaging traffic to your competitors due to slow load times.And with site speed being entirely within your control, there is no excuse.Here are a few tips to help you make your website load as quickly as possible...1.

Test, Test, Test!You can’t just manually test your website in your internet browser to see how quickly it loads.If you have caching enabled, then it won’t load the entirety of your site from the server, so it’ll load more quickly than it would for a new visitor.Thankfully, there are plenty of free tools available online that you can use instead.Here are a few of our favourites: Google's PageSpeed InsightsGTmetrixPingdom Website Speed TestEven better?Not only will these tools tell you how quickly your site loads, but you’ll also get a detailed list of problem areas and recommendations on how you can fix these to boost your site’s speed.2.

Resize and Compress Your Site’s ImagesImages are easily one of the most common reasons why websites load slowly.If your site uses full-blown images, for example, 3000 x 2000 pixels (or something equally large) which you then scale via CSS to 300 x 200 pixels (or something equally small), you have a problem.A visitor’s browser will need to load the entirety of the larger image (often several megabytes in size) before it can be displayed, and it’ll then need to scale it to the correct size which will delay things even more.Add just a few of these types of images to your web page and your load time will go through the roof.The solution?First, physically resize the image to whatever dimensions it’ll be appearing on-screen.Then, compress the image to reduce the overall file size by as much as possible.When it comes to compressing images, the one resource that we use time and time again is tinypng.com, which handles both PNG and JPEG formats.3.

Minify Your HTML, CSS, and Javascript Files‘Minifying’ is the process of optimising your website’s code to remove things like white spaces, commas, line breaks, code comments, and unused sections of code.Removing these unnecessary items and characters helps reduce the overall file size, helping it load faster to boost a website’s speed.You can minify all files sent to a visitor’s browser from the server, including HTML, CSS and JavaScript.Google recommends several different resources to help you do thishere.If you aren’t particularly tech-savvy, we’d recommend working with a developer to complete this step.4.

Use Browser CachingBy activating browser caching, you allow parts of your website to be stored in a visitor’s browser cache.While this won’t speed up their first visit to your site, it realistically reduces the load time of any repeat visits by allowing saving and reusing of your website’s files.You can specify how long browsers should keep various things like HTML files, CSS stylesheets, and images in your site’s HTTP headers.All you need to do is edit your site’s .htaccess file to set specific expiry times for each type of file.A word of caution here though...Longer isn’t necessarily better.Yes, too short and you’ll keep regular visitors waiting around while your site loads, but too long, and it could lead to cached versions of your site being shown in favour of actual up-to-date versions.You need to strike a balance.Again, as with minifying your code, if you aren’t up-to-speed, or don’t feel comfortable with modifying your site’s HTTP headers, then get a developer to do it for you.5.

It's no secret that it can be tough to buy gifts for men.From the picky brother who needs nothing to the indecisive husband who can't tell you what he wants, buying a gift for them can be as frustrating as it can be time-consuming!Thankfully, we're here to help with this list of essential tech gift ideas for a lucky man in your life.So, to help you avoid going down the route of giving yet another gift voucher for an upcoming birthday, Christmas, or anniversary, here are five ideas of tech gifts that he'll appreciate, treasure, and be able to use for years to come: HeadphonesWhen it comes to losing yourself in music and blocking out the hustle and bustle of everyday life, nothing beats a pair of noise-cancelling headphones.Yes, there are plenty of makes and models to choose from, but, for us, the Bose® QuietComfort® QC35 II is the absolute best of the bunch.You've probably heard of Bose before, after all, they're world-famous for their obsession with sound quality, and we're happy to say that these headphones more than live up to this reputation.We love the fact that they're Bluetooth wireless, meaning there's no need to worry about annoying wires that become knotted or caught up as the man in your life goes about his daily routine.What's better, because they have a 20-hour battery life, they're just as good for long-haul flights as they are for an entire week's worth of walks in the park.

Smart watchWhen it comes to keeping track of his heart health, how many calories he has burned, and of course, telling the time, nothing beats the convenience of a smartwatch.Our personal favorite is the Apple Watch Series 3.Like most Apple products, the Watch Series 3 doesn't come cheap.

Thanks to the power of built-in GPS, he'll be able to accurately track his workouts from running and swimming to riding a bike, even if he's forgotten his phone at home.Even better?The Watch Series 3 will sync with his iPhone applications, for example, his calendar and email, which will provide him with seamless updates and notifications throughout the day.

DroneWe can't think of a cooler piece of tech than a drone, and we can’t think of a birthday or anniversary gift for men that we’d be happier to receive.Whether he's into action sports, creating memories, or exploring where you travel to or where you live, a drone makes capturing awesome aerial photography and cinematography super easy.Gone are the days of drones that are difficult to fly, or that only last a few minutes between charges.The Mavic Mini model from DJI, for example, not only uses an app to simplify the flying experience, but it is also capable of a more than respectable flight time of up to 30-minutes thanks to its ultralight design that weighs only 249g.It also comes paired with a dedicated remote controller to let you see through the eyes of the drone from up to 4 kilometers away, and it features preset motion controls that allow for so-called 'Dronie', 'Rocket', circle and helix shots at the press of a button.He'll be blown away by the quality of whatever he captures, too, thanks to the drone's 12-megapixel capability for aerial photos and 2.7K Quad HD videos, all of which it shoots from a 3-axis motorized gimbal for ultra-precise and stable shots.For the safety-conscious out there, the Mavic Mini can be equipped with a propeller guard to avoid any unfortunate mishaps (people/animals and propellers are never a good mix!

).Perhaps our favorite feature, though, is the drone's integrated access to SkyPixel, a social-media platform that will help him find the most scenic areas nearby to shoot.

Sega Mega Drive Mini ConsoleTransport a man in your life back to the '90s with this Sega Mega Drive mini console.If he's anything like us, he'll have spent his weekends and evenings button mashing to beat the boss level in his favorite game, and so this gift will be a real trip down memory lane.Unlike the original Mega Drive which used cartridges, this iteration comes with the game preloaded onto its hard drive.