If you are a graphic or a web designer, you would probably be working with a high-speed internet connection and an efficient computer. Naturally, these things are essential in order to make sure that you do not face any difficulties while designing. However, you need to consider the fact that there are several people out there who are still working with basic computers and dial-up connections. Several of these people might be the customers of the website you are designing. It can be rightly said that dial-up connections should have been made obsolete years ago. However, this is a fact that you need to put up with. You need to realize that the web design must not be too heavy for an inefficient internet connection or an outdated laptop.
Why is considering the connection speed important?
There are certain websites, like video galleries, which can not be modified to suit slower internet connections. However, if you are a business aiming to sell products, it can be easily possible for you to make sure that the content on your website is minimal. This is highly important because not all of your customers are going to have a high-speed connection. Therefore, you need to make sure that the website is designed in a way that will load quickly on all sorts of internet connections. If the page takes too long to load, you can lose several customers. These customers will instead go to a website that is easier to load and to browse.
How to make sure that the website is compatible with slower connections?
This can simply be done by ensuring that there is no extra content on the website. Also, you should avoid unnecessarily heavy forms of content. For example, if your website does not need certain videos, you should remove them. Similarly, the number of images should be minimal and should be reduced down to those that are absolutely necessary. You should also make sure that other items that make the website difficult to load, like advertisement banners, should be minimized. If your website contains a lot of advertisements, the page can take very long to load and this can repel customers.
The design of your website should be extremely simple and convenient. You should make sure that the written content is not more than necessary and is, therefore, easy to understand. While some people think that a simple website signifies unprofessionalism, it needs to be noticed that some of the most successful websites are very simple. Google, for instance, is one of the leading online businesses and yet, it is one of the simplest web pages that have ever been created. A simple design, therefore, is not a letdown provided that it includes all the essential information.
Connection speed, therefore, is a factor that must be considered when designing a website. It is particularly important for those businesses that are targeting a mass market. The latter implies that there will be all sorts of web users you will come across and the best you can do is to keep most of them satisfied.
You make a couple of great points in your article. It often seems that download speed is ignored by most designers in this day and age. One question we always ask when designing a new website is “what geographical areas is your target market located in”. If they are located in a country with poor internet infrastructure we make a note and design the website accordingly.
December 14, 2012 at 9:43 pm Nick