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Minimize the use of images
- The key to a fast loading web site is to minimize the use of
images. Images do enhance a page but don't make 80% of your
web site only images. Instead break it down as much as
possible to simple HTML. Notice the popular sites like Yahoo,
Google, Ebay, Amazon etc., they have very few images because
the load time is more important. Very often simple designs are
the best.
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Optimize images for the web
- Once you have decided on the images
that you need on your site, make sure that it is optimized for
the web. They should be in the gif or jpeg format. You can
also minimize the size of the image by choosing the number of
colors you need, from the color palette. The less the colors
you choose, the less the size of the image. You can also use
online tools like
Gif Wizard
to optimize your images or to get a recommendation on how to
cut down the size of an image.
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Use Tables creatively
- You can get some great looking designs by
using tables creatively . Tables load very fast because it is
just HTML code. Tables can be used in the homepage, menus or
anywhere you like. Check out our homepage and our menus to see
how we have used tables in our site.
Read more on
Using HTML Tables Creatively
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Cut down the use of animated gifs
- Don't use animated gifs unless it is necessary. Animated
gifs take a long time to load and can also be very irritating.
But since they catch your attention you could use small
animated gifs to draw a visitor's attention to a particular
section of your site.
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Design simple icons
- Instead of using big, bulky images use simple and small
icons that add a little color and draw the attention of a
visitor.
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Use background images instead of big images
whenever possible - Use
background images whenever possible. This is usually a very
useful tip for headers and footers. Instead of using an image
of width 580 which is a uniform design you can use just a part
of that as a background fill. This reduces the size of the web
page as the image is small. The code will look like this :
<tr background="/images/header_backgroud.gif" width="100%">
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Try out CSS Styles
- Have fun with CSS styles to get some cool
text effects. Again, a CSS Style is simple HTML code so it
loads very fast. You can create cool rollovers using CSS
Styles.
Rollover the text on the right menu to see how we have used
CSS Styles to get a simple but nice text effect.
Check out our CSS Styles tutorial for more cool tips on
CSS Styles
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Use Flash sparingly
- There seems to be a lot of hype about Flash
but I recommend that you minimize the use of Flash on a site.
Don't make entire sites using Flash. It may look great but it
takes hours to load and can really put off visitors. If you do
want to use Flash use it within an HTML site and make sure it
loads fast.
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Design most of your site in HTML
- As much as possible try to design your site using HTML. You
can create great designs by just using HTML code. Use tables,
CSS Styles and simple fonts to design your site. Minimize the
use of animated gifs, Flash, bulky images etc.
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Keep checking your load time
- Last but not least, before you decide
on the final design of your web site, check its load time on
NetMechanic. This site gives you a free analysis of your
web site which is extremely useful. We kept using it to
improve our site till we got a report that said good loading
time!