Website Usability Guidelines

Web Page Load Speed

How to increase web page load speed.

• Using JavaScript on your pages.
  
  
• Use Style Sheets on your website.

When you put complex JavaScript code and style specifications into the HEAD section, you may end up with more lines of code there than actual content in the BODY section! Use external files to make your pages load faster, reduce coding errors, and increase search engine appeal.

A W3C Approved Solution - Many good CSS and HTML techniques seem to require developers to dodge the guidelines recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This is because many browsers don't completely support the W3C specifications. As a side note the W3C guidelines endorse external CSS files.

Other external file advantages include:

• Smaller pages: Use external files to replace many lines of JavaScript or style definitions with a single line of code that calls the external file. Less code equals faster loading pages - and happier visitors.
  
  
• Easier maintenance: Easily include the same code or formatting information on every page. Need to change a font-family, color, or variable name? Just change it once in the external file and you see the change on every page.
  
  
• Search engine friendly: Search engine spiders like to see important content at the top of the page. Some even rank earlier content as more important. Pages with important content close to the top of the page are more spider-friendly.