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Web performance optimization, WPO, or website optimization is a relatively recent and upcoming field in Web Analytics similar to that of SEO with one major difference in approach: whereas SEO focuses on optimizing content for search engines, WPO emphasizes on optimizing the website’s structure as a whole to decrease loading time and deliver a better end-user experience which can lead to increases in better organic search engine listings and greater user loyalty. WPO is term coined by Steve Souders, a leader in the field. [1]

History

Steve Souders

Steve Souders started talking about the importance of high performance websites in 2004[2], which lead him to launching a new industry, web performance optimization[3]. Souders stressed several points about what this emerging industry will bring to the web. Some of them include: websites being fast by default, consolidation, web standards in performance, environmental impacts of optimization, and speed as a differentiator.[4]

Back-End Approach

WPO was focused on code and hardware limitations in the earlier years of the Internet. According to Patrick Killelea’s book: “Web Performance Tuning”, some of the techniques proposed were to use simple servlets or CGI, increase server memory, and look for packet loss and retransmission. [5]

Although these principles now comprise much the optimized foundation of our internet applications, one could argue that the focus was not so much on how to improve the front-end experience but on how to transfer the data from the server to the user.

Front-End Approach

One major point that Souders makes is that at least 80 percent of the time that it takes to download/view a website is controlled by the front-end structure. Web developers are strictly responsible for that 80 percent lag, and can decrease it by becoming more aware about how the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) works.[6]

Best Practices

There are a plethora of steps or suggestions according to multiple sources that web developers can take to increase WPO. Some of these sources are:

  • Steve Souders. Considered by many to be the pioneer in the field[7] , Souders mentions 28 steps towards WPO, varying from greatest gains to smallest in his books (one and two). He has also created a plugin (YSlow) and heads the initiative for Google’s PageSpeed Insights.
  • Yahoo! has a list of 35 best practices divided into 7 categories[8]
  • Google has launched a developers initiative to empower web developers with tools and best practices on making the web faster. There is a section solely devoted on articles about WPO (https://developers.google.com/speed/articles/) They even have a service where Google will do the optimizing for you!

Regardless of the approach or set of tools, it is important to realize that optimization gains come in three levels: High, Medium, Low. These levels also correspond to the amount of time it takes to leverage these changes, the highest of which should take the least amount of time and therefore yield the most in optimization gains. The steps you implement should be reflected on what the most gains in optimization you want to achieve.

  • These practices can enhance the user experience, and make Web apps better[9]

Purpose/Benefits

  • WPO is an organic way to increase visit retention and loyalty.
  • Google said "Monitor your site's performance and optimize load times. Google's goal is to provide users with the most relevant results and a great user experience. Fast sites increase user satisfaction and improve the overall quality of the web (especially for those users with slow Internet connections), and we hope that as webmasters improve their sites, the overall speed of the web will improve." [10]
  • Better search ranking according to Google (citation needed)
  • Less data traveling across the web
  • Better for mobile devices
  • WPO creates a more efficient web - lowering costs, power consumption, resources used, and helps decrease the environmental impact of the web. (cite 1)
Disclaimer: Not all websites can implement or even need the above listed points. The author provides them in order of most important to least important in regards to performance increases.

Projects that utilize WPO

References

  1. ^ Souders, Steve. "Web Performance Optimization". Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  2. ^ Souders, Steve. "Web Performance Optimization". Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  3. ^ Souders, Steve. "Web Performance Optimization". Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  4. ^ Souders, Steve. "Web Performance Optimization". Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  5. ^ Killelea, Patrick (2002). Web Performance Tuning. Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media. p. 480. ISBN 059600172X.
  6. ^ Souders, Steve (2007). High Performance Websites. Farnham: O'Reilly Media. p. 170. ISBN 0596529309.
  7. ^ http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/2951. Retrieved 3 December 2012. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ "Yahoo! WPO Tips". Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Best practices for building faster Web apps with HTML5".
  10. ^ "Webmaster Guidelines". Retrieved 2 December 2012.
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