Five tips to make your blog load faster (and keep more visitors)
I have been looking at dozens of blogs lately, thanks to EntreCard and my obsessive-compulsive disorder. (That's a whole other post.) I have found some really interesting sites, with great stories and helpful articles. I'm talking with people and making friends. I'm stumbling and subscribing. This is blogging at its best!
However, there are some sites that are so full of "stuff" that I can't even stick around long enough to see how great the content might be, because I get annoyed waiting for all the widgets and ads to load. I just leave. Maybe I'm too impatient. Perhaps I'm being too critical. What can I say? I'm sorry.
I love a site that loads quickly and is not overburdened with junk! If you want to keep impatient clickers from leaving during loading, try these simple tips.
- Keep images to a minimum. If you must include photos on your front page, display a thumbnail or low-resolution image with a link to the real thing.
- Say no to auto-play audio/video files. Slow and annoying -- not a good combination.
- Place the most important widgets above the fold (the portion of the page visible without scrolling down) so people can get right to the good stuff.
- Remember that savvy surfers are largely "banner blind." Don't fill your page with cumbersome ads that are just going to get ignored anyway.
- Resist the temptation to fill every bit of space. Leaving some blank areas is easier on the eyes, and white space takes no time to load.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Every blog in the WWW should know those rules, great post, I’m the same as you, I run when it doesn’t load fast enough. Your site loaded just fine for me.
Chica’s last blog post..Ya’ll gone EMO on me!
Good points and some that I wish more sites would pay attention to. Too many blogs are loaded down with a ton of money making widgets in hopes that someone will perhaps maybe click one. Sorry, no way anyone will ever even get to them if your page doesn’t load!
Michael’s last blog post..The Best For Free
Thanks for the advice.. I’ve figured it out also. I’m impatient too
LivingSouL’s last blog post..Finally Transferred!
Great points! I hate it when there is music on a site. I am normally listened to a pod cast or my own music when surfing. When I hit a site with music it just annoys me.
Ben’s last blog post..EntreCard a Week Later
I posted about that several days ago. I even had a nifty little utility that you could use to test your site. Good post!
Thats absolutely soo true especially when people are dropping cards… I made this mistake once one my first blog but now I guess mine’s optimised.
Another imp factor is the color. White is so appealing to the eyes..
Cant wait for the obsessive-compulsive disorder post
Alfred’s last blog post..Simple File Shredder - Delete files so they cant be recovered
Simplicity is where it’s at! The only graphics in my sidebar are Entrecard-related, so that visitors can concentrate on the content.
I really don’t worry about how fast/slow a site loads, cos, i’ve a decent bandwidth and i don’t care much.
World is using interactivity on t heir site and they’re all based on flash.. and it’s even more time to load than those you think are polluted with ugly widgets and dirty things..
comon, let them do whatever they like, it’s their right, how could we backbite their thing.
There is a blog, who usually puts cool music everyday, i go there and read her blog, because of that sound.
For me, just plain blog is boring.. i actually, peep into other site’s stat, visitor counts,flikrslideshow and so.. for me, widgets are fun. I love them may be very few don’t like them.. but majority love them..
rest are good suggestions
Navin’s last blog post..Ask ‘ 2008 US Presidential candidates ‘ techy way
I try to keep mine as simple as possible, but something is adding loading time.
Maybe it was my pictures, but they are small size.
I dunno….
But compared to thers that I’ve seen through entrecard it still is a Jaguar
I need to revamp my Layout, …, one of these days
Amen sistah!
White space is your friend. I am finding it is becoming very rare to see a site that has a white background.
As I said, I loves me some white space!
cardiogirl’s last blog post..And now a word from the Cardinal
I completely agree with point number two. If there is auto play for a video or music than I automatically switch off the site, because I have no say in whether or not I want to see it. To me it says you don’t care if I want to hear or see it and what you like is more important than what I like.
Selene’s last blog post..Why Freshmen Girls Shouldn’t Date Upper Classmen
Alright, I digress, I don’t understand this Entrecard site. I signed up, but I have no idea what to do.
Yes, yes, yes! Most of us do not want to take the time to wait around for a page to load. And as soon as audio or video start autoplaying, I am out of there.
To expand on the images issue, please do not use a garish background that makes your blog look like a bad MySpace page. White is good. Keep it simple.
Great post, Geek Mom. Now, off to make sure I am not violating any of these rules . . .
Idea Lady’s last blog post..Do’s For Public Speaking
I hate the sites that take forever to load (i hope mine doesn’t) Another thing that annoys me with Entrecard is sometimes I can not even find Entrecard so I can drop mine.
1stopmom’s last blog post..Amazing potty post
I just read your comments…and I was wondering will you be so kind as to take a peek at my blog to see if it is loading too slow. I have a feeling it is or is there something that is glaring?
Thank you so much for your efforts.
Camille O’Donnell’s last blog post..QAC Real Estate March 2008 Sales
@Camille: I checked your blog, and it doesn’t seem to be too slow. If you want to check it more scientifically, you can use this speed tool to measure the actual loading time. Just type in your url and run it to get the results. I’d try it a few times to get an average.
Thanks for the info. I’m a newbie at blogging. I think my blog loads up pretty fast cos I’ve not put in a lot of things yet.
Foongs last blog post..The Truth Is Out There?
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