how fast should a template load?

[mistermouse63]

im making a custom template and i was wondering how fast should it load? my target is 3-5 seconds since i want to keep lost visitors to a minimum. assuming most people dont have really fast internet, what should be the max size? 50kb? 100kb? what about the landers of parking companies?

 

[whitebark]

100 kbs for someone on dial-up is going to take 20+ seconds.

I always try to shoot for 50kbs or less for any static html website - and that includes graphics.

 

[4u-domains]

large and pretty PSD Templates can end up being a false economy.
Even optimized they can be so heavy that downloads times are ridiculous.

Think about using a nice PSD header only and creating the rest of the site in simple buttons and html. That would help.

 

[mjreine]

It should load as FAST as possible... some tricks I use are:

In photoshop... keep small logos as .gifs... pictures as .jpgs and compress them as much as they will go without losing quality.

http://www.w3compiler.com/
^---compresses the HTML code to speed it up.

http://www.port80software.com/products/httpzip/
^--- Compresses the page while being sent to the browser

Also USE THE BOOK called Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization by Andrew King...
^--- He wrote the book on html speed tricks!

If you use these four tactics... you cant go wrong...

-Matt

 

[mistermouse63]

thanks everyone for the info! i think that with your advices i'll make a great template!

 

[Ehsan]

Well i use dial up and i think the biggest sitethat i will open or make will have html of 50kb max and 10 to 16 kb for a fast one

cheers :yo:

Ehsan