Practical Web Design - Speed Up Your Site

Overview and Rationale: Loading Speed

The first section gives us a rationale as to why we should care about optimizing our sites. The reasons are strong and convincing: basically, the more we optimize our sites for quick loading and ease of use, the more we'll attract and keep visitors. Simple enough.

One statistic used to make the case sums it up quite nicely -- if your page hasn't loaded (at least enough to be used) in 8 seconds or less, the average visitor will bail out and go elsewhere. This is bad enough for the average "hobby" or personal page, or for non-profit sites. But for a commercial site, it's a critical piece of information that should drive the entire site's design philosophy.

Ever wonder why Yahoo! is the best-known and most-used search engine/directory on the Web? It isn't the most comprehensive or even the easiest to use (though it's certainly user-friendly); it is, however, absolutely reliable as far as load time goes. You click into Yahoo! and it appears every time, without fail, usually within 2-3 seconds. Andy goes into a lot of detail as to why Yahoo loads so quickly, but the thing for us to remember is that it loads quickly and reliably every time. Our sites should load so quickly.

Even if you don't depend on your site to pay the rent, you should think very hard about your page's load time. For the vast majority of us, the whole reason we put our sites on the Web is for people to use them. You want, or you ought to want, your visitors to have an easy and pleasurable experience on your site. The first and foremost criterion for a good Web experience is fast and easy page loading.

There are, of course, exceptions: "artistic" pages that feature a lot of large, intricate graphics; pages that are heavy on streaming audio and other multimedia features; pages that showcase "cutting-edge" Web design effects; and sites that aren't strictly designed for public consumption, such as "storage" sites used to house .PDF, PowerPoint, and other files. But even graphics-heavy sites can load quickly, if the designer takes the time and effort to make it happen.

Two of my favorite graphics sites, Ryan Bliss's Digital Blasphemy and my pal Robby's Low Budget Designs, both have home pages that load (for me) in under 5-6 seconds. Once you're there, you know that clicking on the big graphics will take some time, and that's okay. You got there without undue delay.

If your site just has to take more time to load, there are things you can do to keep your more impatient visitors interested. It's been demonstrated that your page can retain visitors with a load time of up to 20-30 seconds, if you give them some viable content to work with in a few seconds. Some text to read, an introductory graphic or two, or at the very least, some sort of linear or percent-done progress indicator will help to keep their attention and minimize their frustration at your page's failure to appear immediately.

It's also a good idea for your pages to remain consistent in their load times. If your home page loads within a few seconds, so should the rest of the pages, unless there's a clear and overriding reason why they should not. Getting your home page loaded is the first step towards keeping a visitor on your page, but the joy of a quick-loading home page will fade fast if every other page loads slowly. Don't tweak your home page and let the rest of your content slide; if you're going to optimize, do it throughout your site.

Several elements contribute to the open, easy "flow" of your Website. Speed of loading is the first element, but not the only one. Ease of navigation is key to having your site work well; this includes providing "signposts -- such as site maps, breadcrumb trails, and 'you are here' landmarks" (p. 36) to help your visitors move easily and intuitively about your site. Feedback that is fast and clear of purpose is another essential of good site flow: clear internal and external links, navigational tools, and displays of performance variables such as progress level meters, downloadable file size displays, and such.

Your page should be optimized for the skill and knowledge level of your users: offering an "adaptable/adjustable interface that gives users control over their environment's complexity that is appropriate to their skill level" (p. 36) is a worthwhile inclusion. Simplicity of layout and features is worth more than showing off your cutting-edge coding skills. Remember, the idea is for your visitor to hit your site running, surf through as effortlessly and enjoyably as possible, and leave with the desire to return soon.

Andy recommends SpaceAgent, a $99 program that optimizes graphics and text in Websites for optimal efficiency, as a good first step towards maximum optimization. Naturally, a program like this can't do the entire job, but it's a good way to get started.