MatrixAdapt | Logiciel de gestion d'Entreprise, Création et référencement des sites web

Many Factors affecting website performance

Amateur website design

An unprofessional design will drive professional business people away. Some businesses have not redesigned their website for years. It's obvious from the appearance they have not kept up with new design technologies. Make sure your web site has a clear navigation menu, the colors are coordinated on the page and there is plenty of white space between all the elements.

Slow loading web pages

A web page should load within a few seconds with a high speed connection. Many sites have a flash introduction but visitors must wait for it to load before it is displayed. Large images (or too many of them on one page), JavaScript and Video are just some of the elements that will slow the loading of web pages.

Place CSS and Javascript in external files

Instead of including the full cascading style sheet (CSS) or Javascript within your page code place it in an external file. This speeds up load times and keeps your code mean and clean.

Cross browser compatibility

Your website may look fine in your own browser but may look terrible in other browsers. Test how your website displays in the major browsers e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

Screen resolution

Computer users these days use various monitor sizes. Most of them have a width over 1000 pixels so design your site between 900-1000 pixels. A small width of 800 pixels means there'll be a lot of white space on both sides of your web pages when viewed with a large monitor. If the width is over 1000 (e.g. 1500 pixels) a person with a small screen size will have to scroll horizontally to view your web pages.

Validate html code

Code errors prevent your pages from rendering correctly on all browsers and slows the indexing of your web pages by the search engines. Google "html validator" to find the website that will validate your pages then repair the code errors.

Web copy

Content is what keeps visitors on your website. Your header graphic, titles, subtitles, paragraphs, bullets, images and navigation should work together to easily and quickly provide the information visitors are seeking. The first paragraph should clearly outline the purpose of your website followed by paragraphs explaining the main benefits. The navigation menu should link to deeper information. Don't try to cram too much information on the home page.

How to decrease your website loading time:

Check for HTML errors

Run your web pages through an HTML validator to find code errors. HTML errors often cause web pages to render incorrectly in the major browsers and increase their loading time. Having clean code makes it easier to return to the original document should you add a design element that causes errors.

Reduce the size of your images

Large images will increase the weight of your pages. Instead create thumbnails that link to the larger image. Don't include too many images on one web page because it will increase the overall file size of that page and slow down its loading time.

Limit the use of flash or video

Flash and video files are much larger than image files. Often a visitor needs to wait a while before these files load and appear on the web page. Keep in mind showing videos on your website can use large amounts of bandwidth. If your video gets downloaded by hundreds of people at the same time it may shut down the server so your website will o longer be accessible.

Place CSS and JavaScript in external files

Many websites use JavaScript to create dynamic navigation menus. All the JavaScript code is often included within the web page causing it to load slowly. To speed up the loading time place your JavaScript in an external file and reference the file code within the HTML.

Instead of placing all the CSS code within your web page place it in an external style sheet and attach it to your web page by coding the file into your HTML. This will reduce the file size of your web page and increase its loading speed.

Use cascading style sheets (CSS) for design

Limit the use of tables for the design of your web pages. It takes longer for browsers to read through them. CSS creates less code than tables thus increasing site speed. You can also control the order of the items that appear on the screen. For example you can code the content to appear before any large images that may load slowly.