| Your site is getting traffic, but conversion rates are | | | | Server statistics can also provide you with evidence |
| horrible. Everything seems to be working, so what's | | | | of slow load times. Are users spending a lot of time on |
| wrong? Your site may simply be to slow. | | | | entry pages, but not visiting internal pages? Either you |
| Load Times - Are You Driving A Ferrari or Moped? | | | | have poor content or a loading problem. |
| Give some thought to the sites you have visited of the | | | | Finally, you can also use diagnostic programs to test |
| past few weeks. Were you willing to wait 20 seconds | | | | load times. Typically, the programs will kick out |
| for a site to load or did you hit the back button? Why | | | | estimated load times for dial-up, DSL and T1 |
| would visitors to your site behave any differently? | | | | connections. Make sure you test your home page and |
| They won't. | | | | internal pages. Diagnostic programs are excellent tools, |
| Webmasters, designers and site owners universally | | | | but don't get lazy. Make sure you physically watch |
| access the web through high-speed connections. | | | | your site load on a dial-up connection. The experience |
| Because of this, it is easy to forget roughly 45% of | | | | will prove invaluable to improving your site and |
| surfers use dial-up connections. While your site may | | | | conversion rates. |
| appear to load quickly on your high-speed connection, | | | | Improving Performance |
| have you tried loading it on a 56k connection? The | | | | The steps needed to improve the performance of |
| results can be shocking. | | | | your site often depend on the nature of the site. A |
| Sites that appear to load quickly on a high-speed | | | | database driven site will have different issue than a |
| connection can take forever on 56k. It is not unheard | | | | graphic intense site. There are, however, universal |
| of to find a "fast site" actually takes 30, 50 or 80 | | | | factors that can be checked: |
| seconds to load on a 56k. Sometimes, the load time is | | | | 1. Graphics: Typically, browsers have to make a |
| so slow the browser will actually "time out" and fail to | | | | connection for each image on a page. The more you |
| show anything. If your site has this problem, 45% of | | | | have, the longer the load time. Limiting the number and |
| the hits are worthless. Worse, those frustrated surfers | | | | size of graphics can help. |
| are unlikely to try to access your site in the future | | | | 2. Tables: If you use tables, try to break them up into |
| even if you fix the speed problems. | | | | smaller modules. Large tables can negatively impact |
| How fast should a page load on a 56k connection? | | | | load times. |
| As fast as possible, but no slower then 25 seconds. If | | | | 3. Multimedia: If it flashes, explodes, spins or blinks, |
| you can get 56k load times below 10 seconds, you | | | | consider ditching it. Yes, it looks great, but is it worth |
| can turn a negative into a competitive advantage. | | | | 45% of your audience? |
| Surfers come back to fast sites. | | | | 4. Size: Scrutinize the size of your pages. The bigger |
| Determining Load Times | | | | the page, the slower the load times. It shouldn't be a |
| The best way to determine the load time for your site | | | | problem if the page is comprised of text, but large |
| is to actually use a 56k connection. While this solution | | | | pages with lots of code will load slowly. |
| isn't particularly technical, it will let you see exactly what | | | | Cheer up if you have a speed problem! Yes, you've |
| your prospects are seeing when they visit the site. | | | | lost a lot of business, but now you can fix it. Most of |
| You will be able to see what loads quickly and what | | | | your competitors will never figure it out. That puts you |
| appears slowly. This should let you isolate particular | | | | ahead of the game. |
| elements in need of optimizing. | | | | |