How to build faster loading websites

In an age of short attention spans, speed matters

During the 1980s and 1990s, technology resources were precious. Programmers would eke every byte out of available storage space – nothing was wasted.

When it came to early online networks such as Compunet, deathly slow modem speeds meant efficiency had to be the watchword of the day. Uploaded programs would be compressed to within an inch of their lives to ensure they could be downloaded as quickly as possible. Interfaces were fast, obvious and efficient, to ensure no one’s time was wasted.

When the web first became popular with the masses, savvy designers adopted this philosophy. With connection speeds still sluggish, every trick was used to try and speed up websites: heavily compressing images and reducing them in number; removing white space; making scripts as efficient as possible.

The aim was always to retain visitors with itchy fingers, who were increasingly likely to go elsewhere on a whim as the number of available websites grew at an alarming rate. Yet somewhere along the way, this line of thinking has been largely lost. Today, many designers have become a little lazy when compared to the medium’s pioneers.

With broadband almost ubiquitous in many countries, optimisation has fallen by the wayside. Many now assume they can throw anything they want online and it’ll be downloaded ‘quickly enough’. But when you step back and look at many current sites, a ‘good enough’ approach often isn’t good enough.

Just a lag of a few seconds might be all the encouragement a restless visitor needs to go elsewhere, potentially losing your site a sale. And in an age of broadband, it’s absurd that some sites shove loading delays down your throat akin to (or even worse than) those suffered users during the late 1990s.

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