Generate More Speed: Minimize Dynamic Content

Your Web server runs quickest when serving static pages. Dynamic pages generated from database queries typically are slower by an order of magnitude. Wherever possible, use static pages.

Use smart caching to minimize page builds. For example, consider regenerating your homepage once each hour, serving the pregenerated copy the rest of the time. If you do this, then determine how much it would increase the speed of your homepage, and how much load it would take off your database servers. Could you use this technique for other pages?

→ Consider serving static pages for visitors who accept JavaScript. Then use asynchronous JavaScript and XML, a Web development technique for creating interactive Web applications (aka AJAX), to update only those small portions of each page that truly are dynamic — e.g., inventory availability, product price, on-page cart contents — all after the page loads.

Site speed shouldn’t just be an IT concern; it also should be a marketing concern, because faster sites sell more. There’s still time before holiday 2007 to rally your engineers and designers. Use this summer and early fall to shrink your pages, streamline your site, optimize your code and gear up your hardware. By the time the holidays roll around, you can have your site in much faster shape. Your customers and your top line will thank you.