In 2011 the need for speed is evident in every area of life, especially for our web browsing experience. Google recognizes the faster pace we all crave and has modified its Page Rank criteria to reflect this, while also providing a detailed tool, Page Speed, to help us decipher the extra baggage (aka JavaScript) slowing us down. This study examines 3 popular site elements, Toolbars, In-Text ads and Social Buttons and how they are affecting your speedy ways. Read on for some practical tips to keep your site in the fast lane.
Google’s Need for Speed
In April 2010, Google finally made official what many suspected for some time, website load time has a direct impact on Google Rank. In other words, the longer it takes your page to load, the lower rank you will receive from Google – the Mecca of online search.
The reality is, the slower your internet moves, the less time you will spend surfing. Its common sense and also proven from Google’s own research. These “surf laws” dictate that quickly returned results and speedy browsers equal a heightened user experience and therefore a higher Page Rank from Google.
On March 31st of this year, Google not only made the importance of load speed clear, they also went a step further to help site owners decipher the factors impacting the speed of their websites. Google Lab’s new web performance tool Page Speed breaks it down by category and exposes each element on the site that is having an impact on the load speed.
JavaScript Puts on the Brakes
Among these categories, JavaScript empowered elements can potentially have a very negative impact on the speed of a site and bottleneck the loading. Many websites implement third party empowered JavaScript external code for services such as: advertising, dynamic graphics, widgets, etc. There is an art to JavaScript writing and unless the code is short and masterfully written, it will make your browsing experience lethargic and less pleasant.
In this study we will investigate one of the main variables related to JavaScript that if not implemented correctly, is one of the culprits in delayed surfing: Defer parsing of JavaScript The browser must parse the contents of all
