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So I’m deep into another storefront project…. Every project I work on I become increasingly sensitive to page load time. I’ve kept an eye on the statistics from stores I’ve built for a while now and am starting to notice trends in the importance of a quickly loading page. I knew it was important all along and tried to keep my sites as light as possible, but didn’t know the exact impact it has on a user’s experience until the statistics were showing that people would leave the entire site if even one of the pages took too long to load. This is basic stuff, but also what you can easily take for granted if sales are still good.

I’m experimenting with a tool that the Big Boys and Girls have been using for a while now, which is code crunching and optimization. Many times we are working with software applications (such as ecommerce applications) which have been built by other developers. These applications typically have not been written to be as efficient as possible. Unlike Google and Yahoo and Amazon and the like, which have written their applications from the ground up trying to squeeze every byte from their applications because they are serving millions of users. The bytes add up quickly when you have an audience that large.

So it’s easy to think that we - the smaller guys - don’t need to optimize the code because we’re not serving millions of users, typically. However, the contrary is true. We do need to take the extra steps involved to make every site visitor count. It’s like the small business concept, every single customer should be treated like gold because their are fewer of them and the success of your small business depends on each sale. Nothing should be taken for granted: code optimization and super speedy sites are not the exception.

I’ve been using Port80 software’s tools for a while now. They are awesome. They do what they say. They save you time, they make you shine, they help you do business online safer, they are affordable. One of the tools I have begun to experiment with is their w3compiler tool. It’s being used by the big boys: ebaY, Microsoft, AMD, and more.

So far my experience is good. I’ve run the compiler on my entire ecommerce site EXPECTING ERRORS from the code compilation and was surprised to find none. It really does work and the speed of my site has increased … noticeably.

I’ll revisit this article later to keep you informed of my experiences over time: the true test. So far I’m a believer.

If you want to get a trial of their software: go to here and scroll to the bottom of the page for the link to w3compiler.

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UPDATE: September 23, 2006

After using the W3Compiler from Port 80 Software, I found some definite performance increase in the customer side of the store. However, in the administration area, the code-crunch created some problems. The good thing about the tool is that you can determine which folders in which directories you want crunch.

I also noticed that the javascript rewriting caused some errors in the store’s functionality. Choose not to rewrite javascript, which is an option in the software.

I think the tool will help. Give it a go for yourself.

Post your experiences with the tool below if you do.