| Images, graphic and flash animation | | | | pages on your site, any CSS style sheets that have |
| Many sites have images or graphics that are too | | | | already been accessed will remain in cache. CSS is |
| large. By too large, I don't necessarily mean the | | | | also a great way to limit the amount of HTML code |
| dimensions of the images, but the file size is | | | | by separating code from content. Any style |
| excessive and doesn't load quickly in a web browser. | | | | information can be declared in one place, but used |
| There are no hard and fast rules about file sizes but | | | | throughout your web site. |
| if the website doesn't load in a few seconds most | | | | Links |
| visitors will move on to a different website. Have a | | | | Make sure any links in your web pages are valid. So if |
| qualified web designer check out the website and | | | | you link to other web pages on external websites, |
| make sure there isn't an abundance of large images | | | | make sure that the pages still exist. Occasionally page |
| that may slow down your website. You can reduce | | | | names change on external sites, which can cause |
| image size by reducing the quality, for instance with | | | | links to become invalid. This is also a detriment as far |
| Jogs even a compressed image will still display fine | | | | as search engines. Search engines check for links and |
| for the web. | | | | if there are bad link, they may penalize your site. Of |
| Another issue is flash animation. While animation can | | | | course links to internal pages on your site should be |
| add a nice dimension to your website, it can slow | | | | valid as well. So if you add and remove web pages |
| down the speed of your website, and sometimes | | | | on your site, insure that any links to these pages |
| just become tiresome if over used. Once your | | | | remain accurate. |
| visitors have seen the animation a few times they | | | | Hosting |
| probably won't want to wait each time while it plays | | | | If your website is still slow after cleaning up your |
| again. Animation if used sparingly and with taste can | | | | HTML code, trimming back the size of your images, |
| enhance a website without bogging it down, but | | | | graphics and animation, you may want to evaluate |
| more and more websites that once had intro flash | | | | the quality of your web host. I don't recommend |
| pages are removing them. Excessive us of Flash can | | | | free hosting. You need reliability and accountability in |
| also decrease your search engine rankings. | | | | regards to website hosting, and free hosting |
| Web page code | | | | providers usually have servers that are overly taxed |
| Check your code and make sure that it is efficient | | | | and lack the resources needed. |
| and well written. If you have any comments in your | | | | Design |
| code then take these out. Just reducing the code | | | | Some websites are beautifully designed with lots of |
| bloat of your site can save a few Kb each time your | | | | graphics, but if your visitors can't quickly and easily |
| page is accessed - and given a site gets thousands | | | | navigate your site, what's the point? Remember the |
| of hits a day, that can save you a lot of money in | | | | goal of your website. Is it to sell a product or |
| bandwidth charges. | | | | service, provide information, or is it to dazzle the |
| CSS and Caching | | | | visitor with animation and web design skills. I've found |
| Having your web page style information in an | | | | that most successful websites inform, provide an |
| external file can improve performance since CSS | | | | important message, or sell a product safely, securely |
| style sheets are cached the first time they are | | | | and efficiently. |
| accessed. Therefore when a visitor goes to different | | | | |