Shut Up & Do It
Sometimes it's just that simple. After I finally stopped complaining about my keywords not being organized, it actually got done. That's for both sites. While manually inputting each of the 800+ cells sucked, it was necessary. Besides, I don't have to like it; I just have to do it.
I spent the next few hours trying to optimize the images on the home theater site. I am certain that the big images were the biggest contribution to people "bailing out" before any time could be logged in StatCounter. Prior to the optimization, the load time for the home page according to SiteReportCard for a 56k modem would be 20+ seconds. I was able to shave it down to just over 14 seconds. Still too long but the only way I could get it any shorter would require changing all of the jpgs for the banner and buttons to gifs. Not only would this require changing it on every page of the site, the drop in quality is significant. This is especially noticable with text. The gifs are 1/3 the size of the jpgs. Sigh....
The problem lies in my need for everything to be perfect. The images on the site have less quality than I would like them to have since this first optimization sweep. I guess it's a trade-off between looking good and being accessible to the masses. Well, at least until more people abandon dial-up. Maybe StatCounter has a portion that tells the speed of the visitor's connection. This will give me a better idea of whether I should do the overhaul or not. I need to make sure that the images for the new sites are slim and trim from the get-go.
I bought the hosting for sites #2 and 3 yesterday. Not sure if I mentioned that before or not. The host allows UNLIMITED domains. This means I can make many sites without inflating my expenses by much. Always good.
I spent the next few hours trying to optimize the images on the home theater site. I am certain that the big images were the biggest contribution to people "bailing out" before any time could be logged in StatCounter. Prior to the optimization, the load time for the home page according to SiteReportCard for a 56k modem would be 20+ seconds. I was able to shave it down to just over 14 seconds. Still too long but the only way I could get it any shorter would require changing all of the jpgs for the banner and buttons to gifs. Not only would this require changing it on every page of the site, the drop in quality is significant. This is especially noticable with text. The gifs are 1/3 the size of the jpgs. Sigh....
The problem lies in my need for everything to be perfect. The images on the site have less quality than I would like them to have since this first optimization sweep. I guess it's a trade-off between looking good and being accessible to the masses. Well, at least until more people abandon dial-up. Maybe StatCounter has a portion that tells the speed of the visitor's connection. This will give me a better idea of whether I should do the overhaul or not. I need to make sure that the images for the new sites are slim and trim from the get-go.
I bought the hosting for sites #2 and 3 yesterday. Not sure if I mentioned that before or not. The host allows UNLIMITED domains. This means I can make many sites without inflating my expenses by much. Always good.
posted by JonnyQ888 at
2:42 PM
4 Comments:
Think of your site as a pizza, it comes in a box but all your interested in is the content.
By
Mark, at 2:58 AM
Coming from someone who has dial up, waiting for a site to load is a bitch. I use gifs on my site and I'm glad I did since there are lots of graphics. Content is what sells though. So do that first :)
By
Unknown, at 9:04 AM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
JonnyQ888, at 10:43 AM
I agree, it is the content that sells but at the same time I wouldn't buy from a site that looked unprofessional. There are too many scams and fly-by-nights out there. One way to differentiate yourself from them is through your content, but the other is to have a professional presentation. That's just my opinion though.
By
JonnyQ888, at 10:44 AM
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