3 Ways E-Tailers Can Make Their Sites Faster

However, not all hope is lost. There are ways that you can take charge of your website's performance by implementing a proactive approach to front-end optimization. Here are three tips that you can easily deploy to help shave off precious seconds of load time:

1. Consolidate JavaScript and CSS. Consolidating JavaScript code and CSS styles into common files that can be shared across multiple pages should be a common practice. This technique simplifies code maintenance and improves the efficiency of client-side caching. In JavaScript files, be sure that the same script isn't downloaded multiple times for one page.

2. Defer rendering "below the fold." Ensure that the user sees the page quicker by delaying the loading and rendering of any content that's below the initially visible area (aka, below the fold). To eliminate the need to reflow content after the remainder of the page is loaded, replace images initially with placeholder tags that specify the correct height and width of the image.

3. Rethink the design and location of call-to-action (CTA) links in feature graphics. While the accepted design convention has been to position CTA buttons at the bottom of feature banners, this convention doesn't always serve the best interests of users or site owners, as shoppers must wait for the image to fully render before taking their next action on the page. The simplest solution: reposition the CTA outside the slow-rendering banner.

If you care about delivering a faster user experience to your customers, then look to the fastest online retailers for insight. The most high-performing sites contain smaller, leaner pages, understand the critical rendering path, and know what resources to defer.

Kent Alstad is the vice president of acceleration at Radware, a provider of integrated application delivery/load balancing and application and network security solutions for virtual and cloud data centers.