[robobobo]

I don't know if any of you guys have seen this
http://www.techinfo-4u.com/2009/11/1...th-slow-sites/

It seems Google is getting as fed up as we are with slow loading websites,
They are thinking or ranking fast loading sites higher up than slower sites

This could become a right pain for web designers and for site SEO

http://www.techinfo-4u.com/2009/11/1...th-slow-sites/

[namenotfound]

Originally Posted by robobobo

This could become a right pain for web designers and for site SEO

This is a good thing. Slow websites are annoying and don't deserve high page ranks. There is NO reason at all for a website to be slow.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by namenotfound

There is NO reason at all for a website to be slow.

Sure there is. Multi-media laden sites can be slow to fully load, given all the pretty pictures and stuff that need to be transferred. On the flip-side, an over loaded web server can cause a site to load slowly. For those running a browser that shows transfer status in the bottom of the browser window, the next time you encounter a site that is slow to load look at the status messages and see if the browser is spending its time connecting to the remote server or waiting for it to send data vs transferring a ton of data.

Peace...

[IMiteBable2help]

I find that most of the time, my browser is waiting for the server, and when it does start sending data, it's just too dang slow. I have a 15mbps connection. I seriously don't know why. Whether it be downloading files or surfing the web, even with multiple downloads and tabs loading, I'm not getting enough speed from servers to justify a connection that fast. I recently asked my provider to give me a lower tier of service. 12mbps costs $10 a month less. Starting that next month. I highly doubt I'll see any difference do to slow websites.

[namenotfound]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Sure there is. Multi-media laden sites can be slow to fully load, given all the pretty pictures and stuff that need to be transferred. On the flip-side, an over loaded web server can cause a site to load slowly. For those running a browser that shows transfer status in the bottom of the browser window, the next time you encounter a site that is slow to load look at the status messages and see if the browser is spending its time connecting to the remote server or waiting for it to send data vs transferring a ton of data.

Peace...

BUT that is why I said there is no reason for it to be slow.

1, The webmaster can just choose a better host. He/she shouldn't have been so cheap on hosts.
2, Those "pretty pictures" don't need to be there. The two sites I hate the most are ones made entirely out of Photoshop slices, and those made entirely out of Flash movies. You can limit the amount of pictures you have, and still have a great looking website if you know what you're doing.

So again, there is NO (good) reason to have a slow site.

[lighthouse]

Ih dear so I suppose that means Ebay then. Some of that stuff takes ages and uses up megabytes of Digitspace - a nightmare if you use pre-pay Internet or are on a limited Megabyte Tarrif!!

I prefer sites with a less is more approach - then you actually do get the Info you want - because it isn't obscurred in the mush of Gak and thus infinately more accessable.

[namenotfound]

eBay always loads fast for me.

I mean sites that are slow even on fast connections. I'm not talking about dial-up or whatever "pre-paid" means.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by namenotfound

1, The webmaster can just choose a better host. He/she shouldn't have been so cheap on hosts.

You're assuming any given host will NEVER have problems. It's not practical for a website owner to change hosts every time the current host has a performance issue. That's not even factoring in the IP address change that would need to propagate, which could render the site unavailable to some for some period of time. Changing hosts isn't necessarily a practical option AND these performance issues won't necessarily plague a "cheap" host.

I maintain a site now where access to the site itself is fine but access to cPanel is slow as a snail. Why that is, I don't know but fortunately that issue doesn't impact the main site.

Still, server-side congestion IS a reason for a site to load slowly, especially if the browser is waiting for the server to respond. Of course, this doesn't factor in congestion in the Internet itself which is another thing to consider.

2, Those "pretty pictures" don't need to be there. The two sites I hate the most are ones made entirely out of Photoshop slices, and those made entirely out of Flash movies. You can limit the amount of pictures you have, and still have a great looking website if you know what you're doing.

The "need" for the pictures really depends on the nature of the site. It the site needs to look a certain way to support the business or entity it represents, then graphics and pictures need to be there. I'm with you on the sites created in Photoshop and I'm with you on the Flash sites. I also agree that there are techniques that can be used to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transferred (e.g. using CSS Sprites, using smaller sized image files, maybe using a CDN, etc).

My main point is there are factor outside of the realm of the site *itself* which contribute to the speed of the loading of the site.

So again, there is NO (good) reason to have a slow site.

And again, I wholeheartedly disagree. LOL

Peace....

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by namenotfound

eBay always loads fast for me.

That's you. That doesn't mean eBay loads fast for everyone out there. I had case where my Netgear wireless router caused sites hosted on a particular server to load VERY slowly and most of the time, the site didn't fully load. I replaced the router with another Netgear unit and those same sites, hosted on that same server, loaded as quickly as could be desired.

Gnerally, eBay loads fast for me as well but when it doesn't it usually means Comcast (my ISP) is addressing an issue on there end.

Peace...