new site - how can I speed this up

[stuart1980]

So here's the preliminary version of my site:

http://www.bloomsburycleaning.co.uk/index.htm

Thanks to the guys on here for helping me get this up. It isn't actually finished yet - I want to do a full page graphic background (non-tiled) but can't get it to work properly. I also want to jazz up some of the pages that look a bit dull. I am happy with the homepage though.

I've had some of my friends test this on four different machines including a mac. One of the problems is that the page loads extremely slowly, and this is something I've noticed with a lot of other websites designed in WD. I have 20mb broadband.

I saw a post by one person earlier who stated that WD codes in standard html, so it's not a problem with the program, but some of the images that took no time to load in Serif WebPlus are taking ages here. Similarly, I see plenty of sites that are plastered with graphics that take no time to load at all.

How can I speed this up? To be honest, I would click off a website that takes more than a few seconds to load (impatient that I am)...

[covoxer]

This site is much too fast for me to notice any delay. About 0.2-0.4 seconds for a page.

[gbpatriot]

One of the problems is that the page loads extremely slowly, and this is something I've noticed with a lot of other websites designed in WD. I have 20mb broadband.

Your site loads almost instantly on my 2mb broadband, as do all the pages.

Nice site.

Ray

[Steatf]

Hi Stuart,

I'm on broadband in Australia and found loading your site pages the first time was reasonably slow but not unbearable, however once your site was mirrored here your site loaded very quickly.

Looks good

Kind Regards... Steve

[Boy]

It loads fast and I like how you put it together. Clean and easy to navigate. I'll be curious to see the final result.

[slavelle]

You aren't imagining the speed issue from my perspective. I'm in Atlanta on a 16mb cable connection and while the page load time wouldn't make me leave, the images DO pop in kinda slowly.

You should select some of these images that are "larger" and force them to be jpegs in XWD.

The logo is 32k
The quote in the header to the right is 27k (only on the home page - the others aren't groups and are therefore text).
The two pics in the body are 37k and 77k
The background/text of the body area is 42.5k

Just these few add up to 215k.

Select each one, go to web properties image tab and select the jpg option and apply. See if that doesn't shrink the images and speed up the site.

I try to keep my stuff as small as possible. If I can stay under 10k for each image and under 5k for each item (preferably 2k), I find I have a little latitude for one or two larger things on the page.

Hope this helps.

[stuart1980]

Thanks - some people are saying its fast and others not, but I have noticed the photos popping in slowly like you said in my browser. With it being a commercial site I do want everyone to be able to load it quickly, as there will be many people out there with naff broadband connections and slow machines looking at it. I will convert some of the larger items into jpegs. Cheers!

[pauland]

Stuart,

I think your pages look just fine and for a business site I don't think they really need "jazzing up". They have a good businesslike look and are easy to read. Good job.

Paul

[Stuart - just noticed that you forgot to set the page titles.. ]

[Xhris]

How can I speed this up?

I recommend two optimisations:

• Clever grouping of objects to minimise the number of separate graphic files exported;
• Using JPEGs whenever appropriate (i.e. whenever the resulting image is smaller in file size).

I've covered optimisation in detail in this video.

[steve.ledger]

I see plenty of sites that are plastered with graphics that take no time to load at all.

Not all servers are created equal.
Many virtual servers are running on slower (older) hardware.
eg; Low cost hosting will not give business grade performance.