Beauty Versus Speed.
Hi Everyone.
I wanted to take a quick straw poll of anyone who reads this. I need to try to find what the community here thinks about this issue.....
I have a website that I really like the look and feel of.
It is slow on mobile - I am going to try to make changes to speed things up.
Here is the question I would like your opinion on.....
IF it turns out that my Theme is a big part of the speed issue do I change theme and sacrifice the "look" of my site for more speed? I am really not sure what to do in this scenario so any input you can make would be really appreciated.
Basically - Beauty Versus Speed?
Mike
Recent Comments
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This is a good question. I have just changed themes opting over speed rather than aesthetics as I was only getting 86% on mobile. After I change themes my speed went to 100%. But I lost a great landing page design which looked fab. I don’t know if I have done the right thing but I have to trust what I am reading that speed is a huge factor now more so than back in Feb when I started. I have chosen ornate fonts and post pics instead. I’ll give it a shot Jen
Hamish is right. Does your audience value aesthetics more than just the content? Also, the more you have on your website creates more confusion to some people and distract them from reading. I am thinking of removing some bells and whistle features, opting for a cleaner look.
Hi Stanley.
I really don't have bells and whistles, the site is plain and clean.
When my site has received feedback on here I have had many nice comments about the clean lines and how the theme suits what I am doing.
I am going to reduce some of the image sizes on my early newbie posts as I think they were way too big, I am also going to try "Lazy Loader"
Also I am still on the original image widget that came with the site when I built it and have not been upgraded to Kracken so I don't know if that will help.
Thanks for the input.
Mike
You are right on images. I need to compressed them too. Have not tried Lazy loader but heard of it.
Hi Hamish. That's a great question.
I write about Quality, Vintage, Antique and retro lighting and some Antiques so the look of the site is, I think, important. I chose the theme as it is clean and has a look that goes with the items I am promoting, and reviewing.
Mike
Just been talking to @ChrystopherJ on chat and he suggest that you can have your cake and eat it and optimise/balance for both by using an appropriate theme; he is using Divi🧐
Hi Hamish.
Thank you so much.
I will take a look at this, Chrystopher seems to have his finger on the pulse of what's good!
I really appreciate your input.
Mike
Hamish - I just had a look at the Divi website.
It looks amazing and so different to how I am currently building a web post!
Thank you
Mike
Most people will argue that speed matters, yet I see many slow loading websites that don't seem to loose their ranking. WA loads slow on my mobile for example.
However, if you love the theme - does it have a premium option. This may be faster. Of course check the reviews first...
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I just changed a couple of mine over to another theme for speed after reading Kyle's blog.
They still look pretty much the same to be honest.
Thank you Linda