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Top 7 Ways To Speed Up Your WebSite!

drunkadmin.com — "The time taken by your site to load greatly affects the experience for your visitors. Research has been done which has given a fact that users dont user will ignore a site completely if..." quote from the post.

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  • SatzZ, on 10/23/2007, -13/+2thanks it was very helpful
    • blacknred0, on 10/23/2007, -5/+1i agree, specially with number 5
    • dbr_onix, on 10/27/2007, -0/+11Isn't it... sliightly suspicious that currently all the comments on this along the lines of
      "Great article, I want it to have my babies!" - The odd one or two of such posts like that - fine, but not every single one.

      Either the entire Digg-world is unnaturally cheery today, or someone it getting people to digg and comment on this story so it gets to the front page...
  • bctrainers, on 10/24/2007, -10/+4Nice read. Host Images And Files Somewhere Else, if anything... mainly if you have the money to burn, get additional servers. Set the file/image server to something like files.yourdomain.com and i.yourserver.com. :)
  • sylverboss, on 10/23/2007, -12/+3excellent post , thanks !
    SB
  • Googlelady, on 10/23/2007, -12/+3Excellent article thanks for sharing.
  • Twoodge, on 10/28/2007, -0/+28WebSite?
  • DustPuppySnr, on 10/23/2007, -3/+7Dugg for ImagesHack. :)
  • albiniak, on 10/23/2007, -0/+8...or use YSlow with Firebug.
    http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/
  • jcaino, on 10/23/2007, -0/+9also, call images and scripts using their local path. this keeps apache from opening connections to itself.
  • RabbiBizarro, on 10/23/2007, -2/+7sites loading too slowly.
    lame
  • anotherwayuk, on 10/27/2007, -2/+6Not a very inspiring post... simple techniques that won't save seconds, maybe milliseconds at best (unless your pages is a nested tablefest :-P )...

    Something that *will* actually save load times *and bandwidth* is mod_deflate: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_deflate.h ...
    • jonlee, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3Agreed, server-side compression can significantly reduce load times for clients, moreso than most of these tips. I wrote a tutorial here:
      http://www.jonlee.ca/speed-up-your-site-auto-file- ...
      I'm not so sure about hosting images external to the site since it would require the user open another connection to another server instead of using the existing connection to your server. It also raises the issue of having the external site go down which will cause your page load to freeze until that connection times out.
  • ThePug, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2It's "ImageShack"
  • LucasVB, on 10/23/2007, -0/+16More on optimizing images: use PureJPEG and PNGOUT to strip down junk metadata from your files. It's free bandwidth, it can't get better than this, folks!

    PureJPEG: http://www.yafla.com/papers/purejpeg/filter_unnece ...
    PNGOUT: http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm
  • sathia, on 10/22/2007, -0/+4remember to send your content gzipped to the client!
  • DJB31st, on 10/27/2007, -1/+22is this serious... host your images elsewhere!! lol

    Maybe buy some decent hosting should be number 1?

    Might as well add
    8. hotlink as many images as possible... if they get removed, or the owner blocks your site.. the pages will load EVEN FASTER!!
    • gummih, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1This is the image directory of the blogger, notice the pretty 68k background!
      http://www.drunkadmin.com/blog/wp-content/themes/m ...
    • fac3less, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I think #1 should have stopped us all in our tracks -- it was a worthless submission from the start.
      The fact is most sites like imageshack are absolute crap for hosting images -- and fast? Ha, unlikely. They cut you off at a very minimal amount of bandwidth.

      It's better just to get competent hosting -- http://www.hostjury.com offers a fairly decent, unbiased perspective on web hosting providers.
  • flawlessjess, on 10/23/2007, -0/+10Getting a decent server helps as well
  • Digisphere, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1Why the "Top 7 ways"?
  • chrisrowe, on 10/28/2007, -0/+18You could tweak the CSS even more...

    margin-top: 20px;
    margin-right: 10px;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
    margin-left: 10px;

    can be written as
    margin:20px 10px;

    CSS uses the first value for top and bottom and the second for left and right.
  • lynx77, on 10/23/2007, -0/+318. Dont submit the article to digg.
  • wisie, on 10/23/2007, -0/+4Won't imageshack crap itself after a while though?
  • duckyinc, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3That admin needs to read "10 ways you can stop your website from crashing", a 100+ digg article is like a DDOS attack
  • BOFH139, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5From the coding on this "page" he is not using any of these tips...
  • pumpedvideo, on 10/31/2007, -14/+351 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS
    2 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS
    3 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS
    4 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS
    5 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS
    6 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS
    7 DO NOT USE WORDPRESS

    here ya go
    • Daniel15, on 10/31/2007, -2/+15Why do people keep blaming WordPress? Blame the oversold shared hosting services instead.
      • Vorsuc, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1I got fed up with how much memory WP implementations would eat and started comparing it to other blog engines. A WP implementation will run around 3x hotter on memory than LifeType.

        And if it is the WP multi-user version, forget it and just hang up a 'closed' sign.
      • jcaino, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2not all hosts oversell their services. i've witnessed wordpress take down shared and dedicated servers. even with tweaking, it is a pretty intense app - and most users do not run anything but the default install, with a different theme and a few modules.
      • thailand1972, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1The same lame old excuse about WP - it's the shared servers. By and large it isn't. It's the terrible non-cached multiple (unnecessary) database calls to render each page. I know very well how bad WP is - I run my own servers and I can see how CPU intensive WP pages are. Of course, there's a cache plugin which changes everything, but not many people use it.
    • DrunkAdmin, on 10/23/2007, -1/+0man i'm on a dedicated server, it just crashed with digg effect
      • fac3less, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Optimize, cache, optimize, cache, repeat.
  • t0ms, on 10/22/2007, -1/+6this is *****
    • karipatila, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I'll second that. Use less javascript... He'd have to be a goddamn moron to qualify these as top notch tips.
  • rebz, on 10/23/2007, -2/+6posted on a wordpress blog, lol!
  • singu, on 10/23/2007, -2/+6And another Wordpress bites the dust...
  • TeeDeeNL, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Since most (if not all) browsers only open 2 connections at a time it's recommended to host your static images on a separate domain.
    By hosting your images on a completely different domain (on your own servers and with your own provider) it will make your browser open 2 more connections.
    However, most of these tips are optimizations when having a large and heavy site.
  • pineapplehead, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5"Research has been done which has given a fact that users dont user will ignore a site completely if..."
    Yes, because that makes PERFECT sense.

    /buried
  • deskperieced, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1i got there too late... :D

    Error establishing a database connection This either means that the username and password information in your wp-config.php file is incorrect or we can't contact the database server at localhost. This could mean your host's database server is down. Are you sure you have the correct username and password? Are you sure that you have typed the correct hostname? Are you sure that the database server is running? If you're unsure what these terms mean you should probably contact your host. If you still need help you can always visit the WordPress Support Forums.
  • SatansTaco, on 10/23/2007, -2/+5PROTIP: #1 TO SPEED UP YOUR WEBSITE: GET FASTER HOSTING. #2: DON'T PUT A BUNCH OF USELESS, BANDWIDTH-CONSUMING ***** ON YOUR SITE. THAT IS ***** ALL.
  • NJank, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5seriously, I still haven't seen:
    LINK TO LESS ADS on your page. Or at least limit it to one ad server. Watching the connection status bar, I spend most dead time 'waiting for 'adserver.yoursite.com' followed by 'yoursite.hitbox.com' followed by 'yourserver.2o7.net'. ad infinitum. Since I feel content owners should be able to profit from their content, I hadn't been using adblock software until very recently. Now, any time it takes too long for xyz.adserver.com to respond, that's enough time for me to click the adblock icon and set a wildcard block on that server. I tolerate the ads when their unobtrusive, and significantly delaying load time IS obtrusive, even if the ad/script isn't dancing across the screen.
  • MrSketch, on 10/22/2007, -0/+48. wpcache
  • singu, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6Here is the article in case the site doesn't come back:

    The time taken by your site to load greatly affects the experience for your visitors. Research has been done which has given a fact that users dont user will ignore a site completely if it doesn’t load in 4 seconds. Therefore having a fast site is very important

    Here are the top 7 ways speed up load time of your WebSite.

    1. Host Images And Files Somewhere Else
    Many users online at the same time can cause your server to handle a lot of requests. Its best that if you are using images in your site, make sure you upload them to image host sites like ImagesHack. This will greatly reduce the bandwidth used by your server and also make your blog faster as image upload sites have a better speed.
    Best place to host files of sizes 2-5mb (Any thing you need to provide users for download) is to use Google Pages as your host.
    2. Optimize Your CSS
    Nowadays many sites have started to use CSS based formatting. Even if Style Sheets are naturally more efficient than HTML tables you can still optimize the CSS code to make your website cleaner and faster. Having a clean CSS can reduce the time taken by the clients browser to decode your site.
    Manual Clean
    * Try to locate dispersed code and aggregate it together.
    For example instead of

    margin-top: 20px;
    margin-right: 10px;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
    margin-left: 10px;

    Write

    margin: 20px 10px 20px 10px;

    You can use the tool Clean CSS to optimize your CSS and remove useless property declaration and whitespaces.
    3. Optimize Your Images
    Use image formats such as PNG, JPG,/JPEG And GIF. Always use the “Save for web” image quality which is available in most softwares such as Adobe Photoshop.
    4. Use Height/Width Tag In Images
    Most people dont add hieght and width tag to images. These tags make sure that the browser knows the dimensions of images before it has completed downloading the image. If the browser does not see those tags it will need to figure the size of the image, then load the image and then load the rest of the page.
    When the height and width tags are included the browser will automatically know the size of the image. As a consequence it will be able to hold a place for the image and load the rest of the page simultaneously. Apart from the improvement on the load time of the page this method is also more user friendly since the visitor can start reading the text or other information while the image is being downloaded.

    5. Use Less Javascript!
    Some people tend to add a lot of javascript effects to their site. Using excessive javascript animations may cause clients browser to freeze for some time annoying the user.
    6. Optimize Links
    Make sure that the outlinks from your blog and link between posts are optimized well. For example if link is www.domain.com/blog make sure you write it as www.domain.com/blog/ to prevent one extra request which would be made to the server if the former link is used.
    The improvement on the loading time of links ending with a slash will not be astronomical, but when it comes to speeding up a website every small bit helps!
    7. Reduce HTTP Requests To Server
    When opening a web page every object (images, scripts and the line) will require a round trip to the server. This latency can add several seconds to the load time of your site. Make sure to reduce the number of objects and to combine CSS files and scripts together.
  • inkubux, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2It's called caching
  • Goobernutz, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Take whatever it is that Digg does....and do the polar opposite.
  • steve220585, on 10/23/2007, -4/+1Top 1 way to speed up your website, dont use wordpress.
    • ButchersBoy, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Your punctuation is pretty *****.
  • steve220585, on 10/22/2007, -6/+0Top 1 way to speed up your website. Don't use wordpress
  • mjaleo, on 10/23/2007, -1/+3Reeks of pay-for-digg...
  • Icetype, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1The comments have had more useful tips than that website probably had. I wouldn't know because the site is down.
    < i r o n y >
  • buddyw, on 10/23/2007, -0/+7You have to admit, that "Error establishing a database connection" page did load pretty fast...
  • multippt, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Kind of odd that the site is hosted on dedicated server, but yet suffers from the Digg effect.
    • thailand1972, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Just proves how destructive WP can be without cacheing.
      • fac3less, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Just proves how horrible the server was optimized & couldn't withstand a digging.
  • fLUx1337, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3These kinda storys are stupid on Digg......if your a programmer/designer, you *should* know how to do this already. If your not, why would you need to know?
  • enhancement, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2lame site. Lots of problems and yeah, i saw the database error also. Their rotating banners could be shrunk by at least 65% by going jpg Left out even better ways to "speed up the website" like: 1. just go text 2. host on the fastest server available. 3. who needs colors, just use monochrome gifs
  • mathewbrowne, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Not just a pile of *****, but a largely copy-&-pasted pile of ***** too. ImagesHack? What the ***** are you thinking? Is this your first day on the Internet or something? Buried.
    • bdurkin, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Image hosting may not be the answer but image caching tools and companies like Akamai most certainly do speed things up so ....suck it Trebeck :p
  • moiety, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2About half of these are completely pointless, and a few will actually INCREASE the load time by increasing the size of the output. Grab YSlow for Firebug for real, worthwhile suggestions on improving your performance. I find it cute that the only comments the author is authorizing are the one's that agree with him. He'd rather feel secure in his false sense of intelligence than actually learn some useful information from his peers.
  • buckygrad, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Ironic that it took 30 seconds to load the page.
  • pineapplehead, on 10/22/2007, -0/+0There isn't really much point to optimising your CSS files.

    Sure, writing
    margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px;
    as:
    margin: 20px 10px 20px 10px; (or even better margin: 20px 10px; ) saves a teensy bit of bandwidth but once the CSS file is requested the first time, it is cached.
    • koweja, on 10/24/2007, -0/+1Which is great, unless your site has more than one visitor. Then you should optimize your CSS.
  • Weblodude, on 10/23/2007, -3/+0Great read...will be very useful when I start to optimize my Amy Reid fan site over at:
    http://www.weblo.com/celebrity/Model/Amy_Reid/4561 ...

    Thanks to the submitter! :)
  • thailand1972, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Most websites are dynamic these days and it didn't address DB / server-side scripting issues which greatly impact the speed of pageloads. Cacheing reduces overheads greatly. Bad coding will easily crash a dedicated server, let alone a shared one (witness this particular website).

    Also, not trying to place 100 metres of text on your front page helps (some blogs are ridiculous - they post virtually a year of posting on their home page without pagination).

    Also, trimming CSS files? Come on....
    • DrunkAdmin, on 10/23/2007, -1/+0this blog is hosted on a dedicated server fyi
  • pengas, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1yawn...

    What about SQL query result caching?
    For almost every client I've met, this boosted up performance by up to 4000% percent (not kidding).

    Take a look at the caching apps for your favouritve web-devel lang.
    If you are using PHP, take a look at APC, Zend optimizer and Ioncube php accelerator.

  • dAbReAkA, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1i'm looking at number 6 and i'm thinking of digg.. the browsers always freezes when i digg a comment up or down..
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