The need for speed
Every web user has experienced it, that long wait for the page to download. And we've all experienced the frustration when we find that the page consists of a single large image that you must click through to get to where we're going. So, regardless of the speed of your visitor's connection, there is still a need for speed.
The speed of a web site will impact upon the impression the visitor takes from it. In fact, the visitor's first impression of a site is not what it looks like, or what it says, it's how quickly it loads.
Research has shown that most users will move on if a site does not show a page's text within eight seconds. This time period will of course vary depending upon how the visitor got to the site. A visitor who knows that the site contains information they want will wait longer, whereas a visitor reaching the site from a search engine will have a lower tolerance to delay.
The speed at which pages appear also affects the way a visitor will feel about the company. If the site is slow the user will feel frustrated, whereas a fast site gives a feeling of professionalism and reliability. A visitor is much more likely to spend time exploring a fast site than a slow one.
Three main factors influence the speed of page loads: the size of the HTML and images, the bandwidth the web server has and how quickly the web server responds to a page.
It is important to realise that when developing a web site, both the web developer and client will be viewing the site on a high-speed connection which can easily give a false impression of speed which most visitors will not experience.
So, though they're getting rarer by the day, spare a thought for the poor modem user, that way you'll give everyone a much better experience.
