Help with Site Loading Slow

[theoart]

Hello,
I was recently given the task of taking over management of a website for a wedding magazine. One of the first tasks was to move the site to a brand new dedicated server from a 4 to 5 year old server. Once that was complete the site owner started to indicate that the site was loading slower. I don't think it is the server since it is more powerful and brand new. I just think they started to take notice of site loading time more. if I wanted to optimize the site, using the home page as an example, what might I need to do to increase page loading time.

The site is Weddings In Houston - Reception Sites, Photographers, Wedding Gowns, Florists, Cakes & Desserts

Thanks.

[Uncle Dog]

what might I need to do to increase page loading time

??? We know what you mean.

To start you've got 19 thumbnails at roughly 8kB each (150kB ish) that could easily be Photoshopped down to 50kB ish without loss. I assume similar layouts and savings on other pages.

[agdm]

There are tons of factors that could cause optimization issues.
1. image size/weight
2. javascript files that load at the top of the page instead of the bottom
3. inline or embedded css instead of external css
3b. try optimizing your css as well, if you can do the same thing with one class why use two?
4. back end processes that make extra calls to db or other data source that could be optimized or data that can be cached.
5. tables instead of divs. Nested tables increase load time, because the inner tables have to get rendered before the outer tables, so try to use tables for tabular data mostly. I myself used to cheat with forms using tables for positioning.

That said the site appears to load pretty quickly on my machine. almost instantaneous.

- AGDM

[SnerdeyWebs]

Yeah.. it's pretty image heavy.

Check out the report from this website, it will give you details on the page. Heck, you might want to check all of your pages in the main menu.

Web Site Optimization Services - speed optimization and internet marketing services for improved credibility, traffic, and sales

[Dinghus]

Seems like it loaded really quick to me. Maybe have the owner try a different computer or get off of dial-up.

One thing I did notice is your Google Analytics code is at the top instead of at the bottom of the page where it should be.

The only way to really speed up the loading of this page is to optimize all the graphics using Photoshop or something similar.
If you can't get them any smaller in size you can create low res versions that display first and are replaced once the higher res version is fully loaded.

As far as tables versus css, leave it as is. CSS has a bad problem with making the page look horrible and loading a pain. As much as some people fuss about tables being slow, I've never seen tables slow down a site to the point where I would replace them with CSS. But I have seen tons of sites that are horrible due to CSS. It is just too hard to make sites look and act good with CSS positioning. Tables are a breeze.

[Uncle Dog]

tables versus css ... I've never seen tables slow down a site to the point where I would replace them with CSS

CSS OR tables? What do you mean?

[SuperBrain]

Seems to load pretty fast to me.. Everything came up right away. I am on DSL in San Fran Bay, CA. Depending on where the server is and what kind of connection the client has could make a difference.. It could be as easy as telling them that their internet connection is slower than average or that their computer could be slow as well.

[agdm]

have you also tried asking the ultimate question: "Are you on dial up"?

[Peter (IMC)]

Hello,
I was recently given the task of taking over management of a website for a wedding magazine. One of the first tasks was to move the site to a brand new dedicated server from a 4 to 5 year old server. Once that was complete the site owner started to indicate that the site was loading slower. I don't think it is the server since it is more powerful and brand new. I just think they started to take notice of site loading time more. if I wanted to optimize the site, using the home page as an example, what might I need to do to increase page loading time.

The site is Weddings In Houston - Reception Sites, Photographers, Wedding Gowns, Florists, Cakes & Desserts

Thanks.

I'm not really seeing the site being that slow to be honest. I'm located in Brazil and the site opens just fine. But there must be a reason the site owner thinks it's slow.....

Before starting to do a huge job on the site (but the suggestions above about reducing image sizes is always a good thing to do), it's good to analyze the problem completely and not automatically assume it's already clear what the problem is.

Here are some things to analize:

What's the internet connection speed of the site owner?
What kind of pc is he using? An old one perhaps?
Which browser is he using? If he's using ie 6 it's not so strange the site is so slow, but even ie 8 takes a while to download the site. (ie has the nasty habbit of downloading everything first and only then showing the page.) In Chrome the site opens in a heart beat.

Besides that I noticed they´re using an ad network: ad.doubleclick.net which may be slow as well.

[Uncle Dog]

advertising his/her site... to be fair that's what a lot of people are on here for.