Comments on: Performance and Beauty http://timkadlec.com/2010/04/performance-and-beauty/ A Wisconsin based web developer writing about the web. Wed, 16 May 2012 20:42:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Tim Kadlec http://timkadlec.com/2010/04/performance-and-beauty/comment-page-1/#comment-13953 Tim Kadlec Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:42:16 +0000 http://timkadlec.com/?p=345#comment-13953 I agree - right now, for most people, optimization is certainly not the first consideration (and often, barely a consideration at all). I think that's going to change though. The more data we find that demonstrates just how greatly a users perspective of a site is influenced by performance, the more and more apparent it becomes that basic optimization needs to be something we "just do". I also think that the proliferation of mobile devices will factor in. People want their content no matter where they are, no matter the connection, and they don't want to wait. When they don't have the luxury of Wi-Fi and unlimited data, performance will play a very big role in determining what sites they choose to get their content from. While clearly I cannot speak for Google, I'd imagine your site wouldn't be greatly penalized. For one, the quality of your content would almost certainly outweigh whatever emphasis they've placed on performance. Secondly, while there is certainly room for improvement performance wise (all those javascript files hurt, particularly those in the head) you do manage to rank a C in YSlow. I'm not saying I think Google's simply looking at YSlow scores, but I think they serve as a decent gauge, and I'd imagine that they're only penalizing sites that do such a poor job of optimization that they would garner a D or F. (Again...just my hypothesis) I agree – right now, for most people, optimization is certainly not the first consideration (and often, barely a consideration at all). I think that’s going to change though. The more data we find that demonstrates just how greatly a users perspective of a site is influenced by performance, the more and more apparent it becomes that basic optimization needs to be something we “just do”.

I also think that the proliferation of mobile devices will factor in. People want their content no matter where they are, no matter the connection, and they don’t want to wait. When they don’t have the luxury of Wi-Fi and unlimited data, performance will play a very big role in determining what sites they choose to get their content from.

While clearly I cannot speak for Google, I’d imagine your site wouldn’t be greatly penalized. For one, the quality of your content would almost certainly outweigh whatever emphasis they’ve placed on performance. Secondly, while there is certainly room for improvement performance wise (all those javascript files hurt, particularly those in the head) you do manage to rank a C in YSlow.

I’m not saying I think Google’s simply looking at YSlow scores, but I think they serve as a decent gauge, and I’d imagine that they’re only penalizing sites that do such a poor job of optimization that they would garner a D or F. (Again…just my hypothesis)

]]> By: Chris Coyier http://timkadlec.com/2010/04/performance-and-beauty/comment-page-1/#comment-13940 Chris Coyier Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:07:12 +0000 http://timkadlec.com/?p=345#comment-13940 Nice analysis of Visit Philly. I think it goes to show that most of us at design agencies are designers first and optimizers second. When building a new site for a client, we think of ways to make the site look great and accomplish the obvious goals of the site. We don't think "oooh, this site will really be a good opportunity to combine and minify some javascript." If a technique is awesome and will impress people, and we think we can pull it off, we'll do it. I'm not sure I have any strong opinions on Google's move. My main blog's home page weights in at 663k with a 1.76s load time. It's not great, but I think it's pretty much fine, especially since I serve a lot of it through a CDN. If that were to be in the totally-unacceptable/major-penalty range for Google, I wouldn't be too happy about it. Nice analysis of Visit Philly. I think it goes to show that most of us at design agencies are designers first and optimizers second. When building a new site for a client, we think of ways to make the site look great and accomplish the obvious goals of the site. We don’t think “oooh, this site will really be a good opportunity to combine and minify some javascript.” If a technique is awesome and will impress people, and we think we can pull it off, we’ll do it.

I’m not sure I have any strong opinions on Google’s move. My main blog’s home page weights in at 663k with a 1.76s load time. It’s not great, but I think it’s pretty much fine, especially since I serve a lot of it through a CDN. If that were to be in the totally-unacceptable/major-penalty range for Google, I wouldn’t be too happy about it.

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