Web Site Optimization: Maximum Website Performance

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Suture CSS or JavaScript Files to Reduce HTTP Requests

A server-side variation of merging CSS and JavaScript files before uploading to the server is to do this digital suturing at the server. You can “suture” CSS or JavaScript files together before delivery from the server to save HTTP requests. Often developers create separate style sheets and scripts for organizational purposes, and import them into their pages as needed. There are two problems with this approach:

By Website Optimization on October 31, 2007

CSS Sprites: How Yahoo.com and AOL.com Improve Web Performance

CSS sprites group multiple images into one composite image and display them using CSS background positioning. You can save a significant amount of HTTP requests by consolidating your images into one or more composite sprites and using CSS to selectively display parts of the sprite within your web page. Now that the major browsers have evolved enough to support CSS backgrounds and positioning, more sites are adopting this performance technique. In fact, some of the busiest sites on the Web use CSS sprites to save HTTP requests. In this article we’ll expand on our mini-CSS sprite example (mono-image CSS rollovers) to show how Yahoo! and AOL use sprites to improve performance.

By Website Optimization on September 26, 2007

Mono-Image CSS Rollovers

CSS is traditionally used to create rollover effects with two or more images for menus and other elements. Menus can use on, off, or visited images to signify the state of the menu. Typically menus are created using multiple background images, however. The problem with this method is that it doubles the necessary HTTP requests and can cause flickering problems when the “off” image is not preloaded. A better way is to combine the on and off state images into one mini-sprite and switch the background position on rollover (see Figure 1).

By Website Optimization on August 31, 2007

Minimize Noise to Maximize Graphic and Video Compression – tips to optimize web videos and images

Multimedia compression can be thought of as a war against unnecessary noise. Noise is the unwanted random dot pattern overlaid on videos and graphics when electronic noise is present, due in part to the random motion of electrons. Noise creeps into images, both still and motion, with the more lossy steps you take when manipulating images. These random dot patterns, or “snow,” prevent compression algorithms from working optimally, increasing file sizes. By minimizing the noise in your original images and videos, you can gain the maximum amount of compression when optimizing images and videos destined for the Web.

By Website Optimization on July 30, 2007

Web Video Optimization Tips – optimize streaming media for website videos

While streaming-media files make up only a small portion of the total web objects on the average web page, less than 1.3% according to Levering & Cutler (2006), a small fraction of streaming media is responsible for nearly half of the streaming media traffic (Chesire et a. 2001). In fact, YouTube is responsible for about 10% of all traffic on the Internet (Nowak 2007) and is growing at over 162% a year (see Table 1). Consequently the optimization of streaming media, movies in particular, is important to minimize load times, reduce bandwidth bills, and maximize web page speed.

By Website Optimization on June 29, 2007

Home Page Usability and Credibility Survey – Fortune 30 versus Inc. fastest growing companies

The key to fast growth online is rapid customer responsiveness (Weill and Ross 2004). How a company executes its own web site is one indicator of how a company executes IT projects and values customer responsiveness. In order to determine the usability and credibility of top websites, researches from Minnesota State University compared the home pages of the fastest growing companies against the Fortune 30 (Brown, Rahman, & Hacker 2006). The researchers found that the largest companies in the US used designs that were more consistent than the fastest growing companies, as defined by Nielsen and Tahir’s best practices (2001). The fastest growing company home pages fared significantly worse in performance metrics.

By Website Optimization on May 31, 2007

Update: Pro Ball Head Review – compares ball heads to give sharper photos & solid video support

Ball heads provide stability and mobility for photographers on the go. Combined with a stable tripod a solid ball head can help dampen out vibration for sharper photographs, especially for larger enlargements. Sharper photographs and videos make for smaller, higher quality multimedia for the Web. This article reviews some professional ball head options and looks at vibration testing with a laser vibrometer.

By Website Optimization on April 23, 2007

Replace GIF with PNG Images – portable network graphics images compress more efficiently than gifs

The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format is designed to be a more efficient, flexible, and patent-free replacement for GIFs. PNG is designed to store a single bitmapped image to display over computer networks (1). PNG was created in 1995 as a response to Unisys’ enforcement of their patent on the LZW compression algorithm used in GIFs. While Unisys’ patent has expired, the reasons for switching to PNGs from GIFs remain (2). By replacing your GIFs with PNGs you can speed up your web pages and save bandwidth.

By Website Optimization on March 31, 2007

Book Preview: Information Foraging Theory – boost information scent and predict web navigation

Most books on human-computer interaction (HCI) and usability give recommendations based on empirical research, guidelines fit to observed user behavior, and cognitive models after the fact. Peter Pirolli, the father of information foraging theory, has written a new book that models and predicts what users will do before they navigate a website. Using mathematical models of human behavior, Pirolli lays out the foundation of information foraging theory, a relatively new field based in part on optimal foraging theory in animals (Stephens & Krebs 1986). The result is a seminal work in Oxford University Press’ series on Human-Computer Interaction. We were fortunate to review a proof of Pirolli’s new book Information Foraging Theory: Adaptive Interaction with Information, due out April 2007.

By Website Optimization on February 5, 2007

Automated Color Harmony Tools – color harmonization using automatic color theory tools to optimize color palettes

Harmonic colors are color combinations that have special internal relationships that are aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. Professional web designers experienced in color theory can create color palettes that evoke different moods, appropriate to the product or service being sold.

By Website Optimization on January 16, 2007