"10 tips to creating fast loading websites"

by Hilum Mburu

Seems to me like most web users (me included) are always in a hurry when browsing. Statistics show that, without a compelling reason, the average user will not wait for much more than 10 seconds for a page to load. So does that explain why your visitors seem to spend less than 5 seconds in your site? Probably your site is taking too long to load thus putting off visitors.

As you design your site, loading time should always be a priority if your site is to be an effective business tool. Balancing usability and aesthetics is a delicate matter when creating a fast loading site. You can have a colourful website but takes ages to load while on the other hand you can design a simple site that loads faster than you can brink. Below are 10 tips and tricks that I have found very useful that you can use while designing your fast loading website.

1. Use images sparingly.
Images may enhance the appearance of a website but it greatly increases its loading time. While optimizing images will make the pages load faster, overuse will not have the desired effect. For example, if you use over 75% of your page content as images chances are that your pages will load very slow.

2. Use HTML to design your pages
HTML when used well can be very effective in creating fast loading pages. You can create simple and elegant sites using plain HTML, CSS and few images.

3. Minimize animated gifs and flash usage
Wherever possible use very few animated gifs and flash files. As much as they enhance web page appearance they usually bog down the loading times so use sparingly.

4. Use background images
Instead of using full images, use background images for headers and footers. In this way you get to use a strip of the image of uniform design instead of using an image 779px wide.

5. Avoid using Javascript and flash scripts
Most of these scripts contribute greatly to slow loading pages because they usually have to load some items first before they are rendered. For example, Javascript drop menus are very useful in creating seamless navigation but unfortunately increase page load times significantly. Consider using CSS with which you can have drop down menus.

6. Optimize your HTML
One of the reasons why pages may load slowly is huge page size as a result of useless or repeated HTML tags. Validating your site is one way of optimizing your HTML.

7. Avoid using multimedia files
Unless your site is an entertainment one don't use multimedia files especially as background music unless you absolutely have to. Providing a download link or an online player is better than using the files as background music.

8. Use Templates
Using templates will not only ensure uniformity throughout your site but will enable subsequent pages load faster because the structural images will have cached and thereby reducing the load times significantly.

9. Optimize images
Using an image editor like Photoshop, or Ifarnview, images can be optimized to load fast depending on their intended use. Appropriately resized and cropped images will greatly reduce the loading times of a page and at the same time maintaining their integrity.

10. Check your loading times
Finally check your loading times using plugins such as Fasterfox in Firefox to see how long your pages are taking to load.

About the Author




Hilum Mburu is the lead web developer at http://www.simbahosting.net a web hosting & design solutions firm.

"Basic Guidelines for Web Design "

by Brian Lee

Designing a good website isn't as easy and simple as one might think. To design an exceptional site, there are a few guidelines that should be followed. These tips will not guarantee a successful website but it will provide you with how to develop and maintain admirable web site.

Navigation

To start off, having proper navigation is essential to a good website. Having a straightforward and logical navigation system will help users keep control and enjoy surfing through your site.

If the user keeps getting lost or if the links keep bringing him every which way then there's a problem. If one decides to apply a navigation bar on their website, it is mandatory that it be place at the same location on each webpage.

Generally, the navigation bar is placed across the top or on the left margin. The most frustrating thing for any user is being unable to find what they are searching for when they are positive that your website has what they want.

Your website must ensure that all visitors will be able to locate what their looking for in a quick, easy and straightforward manner without trouble.

"Under Construction" sites

Before I go any further, for those who are thinking about submitting an under construction site, DON'T. If your website isn't ready to be launched on the web yet, then just don't.

After users visit your site and see the "under construction" signs, chances are they won't come back but will instead go visit your competitor's. Details

Secondly, having detail in one's site is crucial. From poor page layout, grammar to spelling errors, these are all point one should be careful with when designing their web site. The smallest mistake in detail can cost you a viewer since it will give your web page a bad image.

Information & Content

Having information, in other words proper content, is also quite important. Building a site with informative, detailed and original content will help your visitors and will also aid your search engine rankings. If your website is one that sells products or services, having well structured, informative information will definitely be useful. Because content is so important, updating that information regularly is a good idea.

The ability to retrieve correct, valuable and up to date information is what makes the internet so popular. Updates for your website can vary from current world news, new offered products and services to new icon, graphic buttons, page layout and structure. Having an up to date website will show visitors that it is indeed a respectable and fully functional site.

The "Contact Us" Link

To continue, no matter if your website sells' products and services or not, having a visible and easy to find "Contact Us" link is helpful.

Your website should give a option for all visitors to ask questions or to ask for more information about your website. When designing the "Contact Us" form or any other form on your site, keep it as short as possible.

People do not enjoy answering a long list of questions. Chances are they will get annoy or bored and check out other websites. So if possible, try and use small forms or in some cases, multiple page forms.

Consistency

Finally, consistency is a key factor in creating a professional website. Having consistency between colors, page layout, structure, icons, fonts, pictures and text will give you page a competent look and will put your visitor in a more comfortable atmosphere to navigate your site.

Confusing the user with different layouts on every page might not be such a great idea, so keep it consistent!

You may or may not have found all of these tips useful. Again, following these guideline will not guarantee a highly successful site, but following them is a good place to start for any developing website.

About the Author


Brian Lee works for NRJ design, a Montreal Web design company.