`It is crucial to adjust the code to enhance page loading speed, prioritizing essential functioning components in the beginning that are added directly to the HTML markup. Load JS scripts and other slow elements last.
How a Website Header Should Look
Fast website loading positively impacts ranking, user behavior, and conversion rates. Google Analytics statistics reveal that most users leave a website if its loading speed exceeds 3 seconds. As of 2018, the average mobile page load time was around 15 seconds. This slow loading speed causes many websites to lose potential customers.
For this reason, all content placed on the first screen, especially the area users see first, must load quickly. The website header is displayed in this area, so it must be designed not to slow down page loading.
Typically, commercial projects include the following information in the website header:
- Main menu;
- Company logo and advertising slogan;
- Contact details: phone number, email, messenger usernames, and links to social network communities;
- Working hours;
- Thematic image or advertising banner, considering format and size to avoid slowing down loading speed;
- Links to sections about delivery, payment, return, and warranty service;
- Key conversion buttons: order a callback or subscribe to news.
Alternatively, a minimalistic design can be employed, where the website header consists of only a few elements.
In some cases, the header is overloaded with images and numerous menu items, further complicating usability due to a fancy font.
Boosting Website Header Loading Speed
Modifying the client-side code can significantly increase the website’s loading speed. When optimizing the code, pay attention to several key points.
Load JS Scripts Last
Modern web pages often contain large JavaScript files that slow down loading speed. The user’s screen remains blank until all scripts are loaded. To avoid such delays, use asynchronous loading, which runs JS scripts last.
Google specialists developed the extsrc.js library for this purpose. First, download this script to your server and connect it to the page’s HTML code. Then, add all the scripts in the following format:
phpCopy code
<script extsrc="url/some-js-file.js"></script>
Replace the standard src script attribute with extsrc.
For scripts that don’t explicitly use the document.write method, use asyncsrc = "url / some-js-file.js" to make loading even faster.
Transfer CSS Files
Move extra CSS files to the footer. Merge the remaining files into a single file and attach them at the beginning of the page in the <head>
section.
Remove Unnecessary Plugins and Reduce Code
When developing a website using visual editors, extra lines of code that need to be removed are often added. Similarly, eliminate unnecessary plugins, themes, or extensions. Use online tools like the Minifycode compressor to shorten the code.
Optimize Connected Fonts
- Limit the number of loaded fonts and available style options for each font;
- Divide fonts into subsets;
- Well-designed loading of optimized fonts can increase page processing speed. Use the Font Loading API script interface to change initial settings for delayed loading.
As fonts rarely change, cache them for as long as possible to improve loading speed.
Choosing the Right Images for Website Headers
To ensure fast loading of the website header, avoid using heavy graphic elements. If graphics cannot be replaced with text or CSS effects, use image formats that depend on the type of image, i.e., raster or vector.
For raster images without bulk or detail, the JPEG2000 format is ideal, as it maintains high image quality even after compression. For images with many details or transparent background, use PNG. The SVG format is suitable for vector images, which can be compressed using GZIP. Animated images should be saved with the GIF extension.
Compress image sizes by removing digital clutter, such as unnecessary metadata, and compressing the file or changing its format. Various online tools can be used for this, such as Google’s Squoosh.app:
Avoid using CSS rules to resize images, as scaling images can slow down page loading speed. Instead, add the image to the server in multiple sizes to adapt the page to devices with different screen resolutions.
Plugins that Enhance Website Loading Speed
Some plugins and extensions can automatically improve page loading speed across various CMS systems:
- For WordPress websites, use the Autoptimize plugin:
- For OpenCart websites, use a module that minimizes code and increases loading speed based on Google Speed test results:
- To speed up Joomla websites, use the JCH Optimize extension:
- For Drupal websites, enable built-in CSS and JavaScript aggregation in the settings and reduce image sizes using the Image Optimize module:
Assessing Website Loading Speed
To evaluate the loading speed of a mobile website version in a specific country, use Google’s Test My Site service:
This service not only displays the loading speed but also generates a report with recommendations to improve website loading speed on mobile devices:
To analyze website loading speed on both mobile devices and desktops, use another popular online service, Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool also provides detailed suggestions for enhancing website performance:
Key Takeaways
- Slow website loading speed can cause users to leave after just a few seconds of viewing a blank screen. Therefore, the page header should load as quickly as possible.
- To improve loading speed, minimize code, move the CSS stylesheet to load with the header, and load JavaScript at the end.
- To fast load the website’s initial view, use compressed images of the appropriate size and format in this area without scaling them using CSS rules.
- Using numerous fonts can significantly slow down page loading, so minimize the number of fonts following expert recommendations.
- To efficiently speed up page loading, consider installing specialized modules and plugins developed for popular CMS platforms.
- Utilize Google’s online tools to check download speed and obtain customized recommendations for boosting it.
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