Calculating the Download Speed of Your Site
We are all busy people and in general we are pretty impatient. If we don't get what we are looking for fast enough, we tend to look someplace else. From studies on response times 10 seconds is the limit for keeping someone's attention before they turn to another task (see "Web Site Usability" by Jakob Nielsen).

How does your site do? If you are on a 56K modem, go ahead and time how long it takes your site to load with a stopwatch. However, you will want to make sure you empty out your cache first to get an accurate time for a first-time visitor. To do this in IE, go to Tools/Internet Options/Temporary Internet Files and then press "Delete Files…" In Netscape, go to Preferences/Advanced/Cache and press "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk Cache".

Another easy way to test your download time (although possibly a little less accurate) is to use the site evaluation tool on OptiView http://www.optiview.com. On their results page, look for the Page Download Times. You want to keep this under 10 seconds, but faster would be even better. Easier said than done, right? Here are some tips to help you.

Tips for High-Quality Fast-Download Site
If you want a fast site, you could try something like this http://www.brillianceweb.com/betterwebdesign/fast.asp

The page loads quickly, but the likelihood is that you would not trust this company as a credible business. The page lacks professionalism and conveys that this may be a fly-by-night operation just recently set up on the Internet. These days any person can put a page on the Internet, and you don't want to look like just anyone.

Make sure you are working with a web developer that can find creative ways to make your site look good while keeping the download time low.

As a smart business owner, ask your web developer to do the following:

• Keep the page download time under 10 seconds on a 56 kbps modem
• Use colored table cells and background images in table cells to create fast-loading, professional graphics
• Use text instead of graphics whenever possible.
• Use ALT tags to display information to users before the images load (especially for navigational toolbars)
• Compress your images using Photoshop or another web graphics tool
• Preload images into the cache on the user's first visit to your site, so subsequent pages will load faster.
• Allow some information to display quickly to keep the user's attention while the rest of the page is loading.

Put It To Use
Test your site download time and see if it is under 10 seconds. Call Lori at 414-425-4069 or lori@brillianceweb.com to discuss how we can make your site load faster and keep your visitors coming back!