Cut the Fat in Your Web Pages

You don't have to be a diet guru or even Dr. Atkins to know that reducing your weight can be beneficial to your health and compliment your appearance. Having been overweight several times myself in my life and also experiencing being thin and in great shape, I found it is human nature and a fact of life that people respond to you differently based on what they see. The same is true with your web pages.

Most New Years resolutions are broken before the end of January, mainly because you were not armed with the knowledge you needed to achieve your goals before you started. Or your goal expectations were set too high. This week's web design tutorial will help get you started, arm you with essential knowledge to cut the fat in your web pages and all without being a financial burden that bites your wallet like many special diets do.

First you need to be aware that certain elements in your web pages are likely zapping your web site visitors Internet connection energy. Have you ever been around someone who immediately sucks every ounce of your energy? If so, you likely avoid these people, right? The same is true if your web pages zap your visitors Internet connection energy because your pages are excessively overweight (high page load times). Your site visitors will avoid your web site because they are uncomfortable or feel drained even if it is pretty and pleasing to the eye.

When you are shopping for a web template or designing your own site, your first priority is to be sure the pages load fast. If the web template you buy does not state a page weight and estimated load time, ask the designer *before* you buy. It is your right to know what you are buying; web templates are generally nonreturnable. If what you see in the template design is mainly graphics that are eye-candy attractive and you immediately say "Wow" as soon as you see it, you are likely seeing a bloated and unnecessarily heavy page design especially if the design does not specifically state the weight specs. Think of it in terms of what your visitors will think when they visit your site using this design. And trust me, this is exactly what they will think and do: "Wow - looks great; WOW! But I WON'T WAIT for your pretty graphics to load." [clicked out or closed browser window]

At BasicTemplates.com we state upfront on each web template the page weight and load time on a 33.6 bps Internet connection. Many people's Internet connections are faster than 33.6 so you know if it load in 11 seconds at 33.6 it will load in a blink of an eye with a DSL connection. Beware of template designers who do not state the load specs upfront or refuse to tell you. It is often what they don't say that speaks volumes rather than what they do say.

- Check your page load time whenever you make drastic graphic or multimedia changes. After all, if your visitors have to wait very long, they will leave and not return. Some very good graphic software program are available that allow you to optimize your graphics visually and quite easily. There are free online optimization services that work well if you do not work much with graphic design. But if you do consistently work with graphics invest in a good software program as it is much more convenient and puts you in control and does not require you to be connected to the Internet to complete your design work. PhotoShop is great, but not within everyone's budget. Check into programs that provide the same quality such as Paint Shop Pro, PhotoImpact, Corel Draw, etc.

- Splash pages are dead. I have read some very bad advice that splash pages are good because they compare them to the effects of a 'cover page' on a magazine. For those who are still living in the 1980s and cannot get passed this mindset: "The web is a very different animal than the print industry and it will be for a very long time until everyone in the world has satellite or electric grid Internet access." What works for printed magazines sitting on a news stand will NOT work on the web. If you stood in front of a news stand and had to wait 60 seconds before you saw the cover of each magazine you picked up, I doubt whether you would stand there very long. :) If you did, the cover would have to be VERY interesting and highly descriptive to get you to open it. The web requires fast access to the "critical" information first. You will lose 90% of your audience if what they see first and foremost does not encourage them to click again for more. An attractive graphic image or flash movie that requires your visitors to wait and then click on an "Enter Here" link will turn away 85% of your visitors. If you don't believe me, take the chance. But don't say I didn't tell you so when you get very few hits and less than 0.25% of sales from those hits. :)

- External CSS (cascading style sheets) is an absolute must to control your web pages cosmetic properties. Using redundant HTML tags and internal CSS will bloat your web pages, increase the load time, and causes migraines accompanied with countless hours of redesign time when you need to make changes. Using external CSS instead of these unnecessary tags allows you to make cosmetic changes in one file (often one small snippet of code) and it will change your site's appearance on potentially 1000s of pages - instantly. At BasicTemplates.com we strategically designed each of our web site templates using external CSS. This allows you to affordably design your site the right way the first time.

- External Javascipt works the same as external CSS. This is especially important if the JS you are using is very long or you use it on many pages. You simply link your JS code to an external .js file in the head of the document with a single line command instead of placing "all of the code" in the head of the document. More on this concept, "The Advantages of Using External JavaScript".

- Some HTML editors add unnecessary propriety code to your web pages. Be keenly aware of this fact. One example is FrontPage's themes. FP is a good HTML editor if you want something online fast but do not solely rely on any WYSIWYG HTML editor to code for you. Learn basic HTML and CSS; it is not hard and does not take long to learn. We are not advising that you hand code all your pages, but at least be able to read what your HTML editor writes and then you can quickly determine the excess code that fattens your pages. There are countless places online to learn HTML/CSS, but we suggest buying a published, highly recommend book instead. In that way you can be relatively sure you are getting accurate facts from experienced authors and designers.

- Minimize your use of Flash, audio and video presentation files unless you have a very good reason to use them. Ask yourself this question: "If this file does not exist on my web site, would it cripple the site's content or withhold valuable information from my visitors?" In most cases the honest answer will be "no". No one really cares that you are able to create animated flashy presentations UNLESS your sales or service presentation can only be done through audio or video means. Requiring anyone to download a program, plugin, font or other file will turn away most of your visitors. Understand that not everyone keeps a Flash plugin 100% updated. Online security is very important anymore too. No one wants to download and install anything on their system just to view your web pages. Reference: "Flash is Great: But Is It for Your Site?"

Now that you are armed with this valuable knowledge on how to cut the fat from your web site, do some "Web Site Clutter Clearing" too. If you get into a routine of cuttng your web site fat along with web site clutter clearing a few times per year, your site will become more search engine friendly, fresh, attractive and accessible to your site visitors as well as pleasing to the human eye.