Fast website design for speed

Website speed or load time is still a significant website design factor

Even with Broadband you will have experienced websites that load slowly, either due to poor server response or overload; delays of two or three seconds are not uncommon. Broadband use is currently at over 84% of UK internet community (see references). Which still leaves over two million internet households not enjoying its considerable speed advantage; even without considering mobile technology.

Designing fast loading web pages requires a unique mindset that concentrates on giving useful information to the user, and discarding the irrelevant or pointless. Interestingly the same mind set required we believe to successfully optimise and promote of websites.

Frustration due to download times rises rapidly after a wait of around a second and after 5 seconds significant numbers of users chose to abandon a website rather than wait.

Creating a fast loading website

The first performance principle is to reduce overall page size thus reducing the bytes and packets transferred over the Internet. Secondly to limit the objects such as images, requested and transferred from server to browser.

1. Minimising the number of objects needed for each webpage to load, to 5 or under i.e. images, css, scripts etc. Note: - each object causes an average delay of 0.2 seconds.
2. Optimising html code:
   1. Moving common formatting and positional code from the html page to an optimised site Cascading Style Sheet. Note: - CSS is read first before the page is loaded and controls how it looks. By keeping the design simple and using shorthand notation we minimising its size.
   2. Eliminating html whitespace and redundant tags
3. Frames should not be used because search engines find it difficult to rank multiple html pages and it also increases the objects loaded.
4. Most slow websites are graphics heavy. Our images:
   1. Are used very sparingly i.e. for the logo and when they really enhance content and or appearance.
   2. Replacing text graphics, background colours and borders with CSS code.
   3. Image height and width attributes are always specified as this allows a page to be correctly loaded and viewed whilst they are being received.
   4. There size is limited by:
      1. Where possible using smaller images which load faster. Perhaps linked to another page with a larger image giving a detailed view; speed is then not as crucial because the user interest is captured.
      2. Saving them in the correct format i.e. .jpeg or .gif
      3. Optimising:
         1. Reducing colours, even considering black and white which in some instances can enhance appearance.
         2. Blurring backgrounds and compressing as appropriate.
5. Only use Flash or other multimedia options if it reinforces the content and business message.
6. Using CSS to replace, complex or nested tables which takes the browser time to calculate spacing.
7. Restrict the overall page into readable lengths by linking to other fast pages with additional information.

References and credits (note: - large files will take time to load):

• National Statistics - Internet Access - 204kb PDF file - 2007
• Ofcom - Communications Market Reports
• ADSLguide.org.uk - Broadband news in the UK
• Jing Zhi - CMG Journal of Computer Resource Management, no. 102 (2001): 40-55.
• BBC - Why does my broadband slow down or stop working?
• Broadband faces slow future

For a friendly professional Company design and optimisation service call Philip on 01565 653330 or use our Simple Enquiry Form

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