Banner Ad Study: The Female Gaze

This eye tracking study found that females pay more attention to banner ads with discounts and models. more »

By website optimization on 19 Nov 2018 PM |

Healthcare.gov One Year Performance Review

After one year of improvements, how fast is the healthcare.gov website? While the site is more available, response times have slowed down by 62% to 78% over the past year. We offer some triaged recommendations to improve the speed of healthcare.gov. more »

By website optimization on 19 Nov 2014 PM |

Wordpress Performance Optimization

Learn how to speed optimize Wordpress for faster web pages and ultimately better conversions and rankings. Optimized hosting, performance plugins and modules, profilers, and other tools and software can help you pinpoint performance bottlenecks and speed up your site. more »

By website optimization on 16 Jun 2014 AM |

Speedy Mobile Sites Impact Google Search Rankings

Google is now factoring in mobile friendliness and mobile website speed into their search engine rankings. more »

By website optimization on 26 Nov 2013 AM |

Use a Website Accelerator

Automated website acceleration products can speed up your site without developer intervention. We test the effectiveness of Radware's Fastview appliance on a test site and find significant improvements in speed. more »

By website optimization on 20 Nov 2013 PM |

Velocity 2013 New York City Highlights

The first Velocity Web Performance conference held in New York City was chock full of interesting talks and hands-on workshops. We've got highlights. more »

By website optimization on 23 Oct 2013 AM |

Healthcare.gov Performance Review

This article evaluates the website performance issues of the healthcare.gov site, and offers some solutions to improve speed. A brief analysis shows a number of issues that could be addressed to improve the user experience. more »

By website optimization on 2 Oct 2013 PM |

Average Number of Web Page Objects Breaks 100

The size and complexity of web pages has increased at an alarming rate. Despite increases in bandwidth, the load times of web pages has increased by 48% over the past two years. Reducing HTTP requests has become a critical skill in speeding up page load times. more »

By website optimization on 14 Nov 2012 PM |

Use a Web Page Optimization Tool

Web page analysis and optimization tools can help locate and minimize performance bottlenecks. They can improve accessibility, spelling, XHTML markup, and even search engine visibility. We update our survey of the web page optimization tool landscape. more »

By website optimization on 26 Sep 2011 AM |

JPEGmini: More Efficient Image Compression

JPEGmini is JPEG optimization software that reduces the size of photographs by up to 5 or 6 times, while maintaining their visual quality. WSO tests the free service and interviews the CTO of ICTV. more »

By website optimization on 29 Aug 2011 PM |

Page Speed Online

The online version of Google's Page Speed browser extension features a new mobile web page analysis mode. more »

By website optimization on 30 Apr 2011 PM |

Serving 2012 Olympic Tickets: London2012 15, CoSport 0

The race is on to get tickets to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. Are the web sites handing the traffic as fast as the athletes they promote? more »

By website optimization on 18 Mar 2011 PM |

Automatically Speed Up Your Site with mod_pagespeed for Apache

mod_pagespeed is an open-source Apache module that automatically speeds up web sites. Through a number of filters, mod_pagespeed trims the fat off your HTML, CSS, JavaScript and images, reduces HTTP requests, and improves caching. In this article we introduce mod_pagespeed and summarize the available filters. more »

By website optimization on 12 Nov 2010 AM |

PNG24 and PNG Optimization

Which program is the alpha transparency dog of PNG optimization? We put the front runners of the photo optimization pack through their paces. more »

By website optimization on 31 Mar 2010 AM | | Comments (2)

Average Top 100 Weblog Performance Survey

We compare the home page performance of the top 100 weblogs with the top 1000 websites. Updating a top 100 weblog survey, we find a correlation between popularity and page size. more »

By website optimization on 29 Dec 2008 AM |

Evolution of the Web from 2000 to 2007

In a comparative survey of data traces from 2000 and 2007, University of Twente researchers found that the nature of the Web has changed from a static one-way medium to a dynamic platform for interactive services such as photo and video sharing portals. more »

By website optimization on 30 Nov 2008 PM |

O'Reilly Books on Web Performance

We sum up the available books on web performance from O'Reilly. more »

By website optimization on 20 Oct 2008 PM | | Comments (1)

Optimize Drop Shadows

Learn how to create optimized drop-shadows in Photoshop to minimize the size of web graphics. more »

By website optimization on 18 Aug 2008 AM |

Inline Images with Data URLs

Learn how to embed images into your web pages with data URLs. The data: URI scheme includes images directly into your XHTML pages using code instead of external files, saving valuable HTTP requests. more »

By website optimization on 28 Feb 2008 AM | | Comments (11)

The Cost of Banner Advertising on Web Performance

The cost of banner ads for the average website is about one-sixth more objects and one-third more latency. Learn how online advertising affects web page response times, user behavior, and satisfaction. more »

By website optimization on 31 Jan 2008 PM |

Optimize Parallel Downloads to Minimize Object Overhead

With the average web page growing past 50 external objects, object overhead now dominates most web page delays. Increasing parallel downloads by using multiple hostnames can realize up to a 40% improvement in web page latency. more »

By website optimization on 26 Dec 2007 AM | | Comments (10)

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

Learn how AOL and Yahoo! use CSS sprites to improve performance for their busy home pages. CSS sprites save HTTP requests by using CSS positioning to selectively display composite background images. To maximize accessibility and usability, CSS sprites are best used for icons or decorative effects. more »

By website optimization on 26 Sep 2007 AM | | Comments (11)

Mono-Image CSS Rollovers

Learn how to create menu rollovers with different graphic backgrounds with one image. Save HTTP requests by combining on and off images into one mini-sprite and position with CSS. more »

By website optimization on 31 Aug 2007 PM | | Comments (5)

Minimize Noise to Maximize Graphic and Video Compression

Noise is the enemy of efficient multimedia optimization. Learn how to minimize the noise in your images and videos to maximize compression. more »

By website optimization on 30 Jul 2007 AM |

Update: Pro Ball Head Review

A solid ball head dampens sharpness-robbing vibration for sharper and smaller images and videos for the Web. Updated with the newest models, we compare some pro-level ball heads and offer some tips for sharper photographs. more »

By website optimization on 23 Apr 2007 AM | | Comments (7)

Replace GIF with PNG Images

PNGs are designed to be a more efficient, flexible, and patent-free replacement for GIFs. By replacing your GIFs with PNGs you can speed up your web pages and save bandwidth. more »

By website optimization on 31 Mar 2007 AM | | Comments (11)

Automated Color Harmony Tools

Make your designs sing in four-part color harmony with these automated color harmonization tools. We review a joint effort by Microsoft and Tel Aviv University to automatically enhance the color harmony of an image. more »

By website optimization on 16 Jan 2007 AM | | Comments (13)

Don't Let the Graphics Grinch Steal Your Christmas Bonus

Know what jolly old site owners get when they let their graphics get so plump they shake like a bowl full of jelly? A lump of coal for Christmas. Let our Rudolph guide your way to a merry Christmas and happy New Year with an inspirational rendering of 'Twas the night before Christmas. more »

By website optimization on 11 Dec 2006 PM |

Combine Images to Save HTTP Requests

Learn how to reduce the number of HTTP requests required by your web pages by combining adjacent images and optionally imagemapping the links. This tutorial shows both client and server side techniques you can use to save precious HTTP requests and speed up your site. more »

By website optimization on 31 May 2006 PM | | Comments (3)

CSS Overlays: Using CSS Positioning to Overlay Web Objects

Learn how to create an eye-catching overlay with CSS positioning. This CSS-layout technique is faster than image slicing requiring fewer HTTP requests. more »

By website optimization on 30 Apr 2006 PM | | Comments (8)

Crop Images Contextually

Crop images contextually for faster downloads and higher impact. By cropping maximally and resizing you can convey meaning without slowing down your web pages. more »

By website optimization on 17 Dec 2004 AM | | Comments (3)

Size Images with Width and Height Attributes

Using width and height attributes on images ensures fast webpage display. Conserve bandwidth by using actual size for thumbnail images. more »

By website optimization on 7 Sep 2004 AM | | Comments (5)

Convert Graphic Text to Styled Text

Converting graphic text to CSS text speeds up your site, makes it more accessible, and search engine friendly. more »

By website optimization on 24 Aug 2004 PM | | Comments (5)

Graphics: Blur Backgrounds for Optimized JPEGs

Background blurring reduces non-critical details to make the JPEG algorithm work more efficiently. Converting to Lab Color mode allows you to maximize blur for minimum file size. more »

By website optimization on 1 Jun 2004 PM | | Comments (3)

Graphics: Minimize Dithering

Dithering uses existing colors to strategically change pixels to minimize apparent banding. While dithering increases file size, when used in combination with lossy compression and weighted optimization, dithering can allow lower bit-depths for GIFs and PNGs. more »

By website optimization on 24 May 2004 PM | | Comments (2)

Graphics: Influence Histograms

Histogram influencing minimizes banding in GIFs and PNGs by weighting color palettes towards problem areas. Lower banding at lower bit-depths makes for smaller images. more »

By website optimization on 17 May 2004 PM | | Comments (2)

Graphics: Minimize Bit-Depth

Minimize the number of colors in GIFs and PNGs to optimize file size. Lower bit-depths mean smaller palettes and code widths, which makes for smaller images. more »

By website optimization on 10 May 2004 PM |

CSS: Substitute CSS2 Menus

Substituting CSS2-styled lists for graphic menus and JavaScript can streamline your pages and make them more accessible. more »

By website optimization on 3 May 2004 PM |

Graphics: Use Lossy Compression for Smaller GIFs and PNGs

Lossy compression lets you squeeze more bytes out of your GIFs and PNGs. Lossy compression increases identical pixel patterns to improve compression in indexed-color images. more »

By website optimization on 26 Apr 2004 PM |

Graphics: Use Weighted Optimization

Weighted optimization or regional compression applies different degrees of compression to different areas of your image. By varying the quality within images you can improve file size. more »

By website optimization on 28 Mar 2004 AM |

Graphics: Choose the Right Image Format

Choosing the right image format is the first step in optimizing web graphics. Learn how to choose between the GIF, PNG, and JPEG formats for different image types. more »

By website optimization on 19 Mar 2004 AM |

Multimedia: Use a Stable Tripod

A stable tripod creates sharper pictures and videos by damping out vibration. Sharper shots mean smaller multimedia destined for the Web. more »

By website optimization on 5 Mar 2004 PM | | Comments (2)

Multimedia: Use Image Stabilization

Image stabilization creates sharper pictures by damping vibration to avoid motion blur. Gyroscopic stabilizers steady cameras for sharper photographs and videos. more »

By website optimization on 24 Feb 2004 AM | | Comments (13)