Effects of web page contents on load time over the Internet

Abstract

This paper focuses on the effects of web page components on web page load time and how they can be modified to reduce load time. Website speed measuring software tools (EValid and YSlow), online website monitoring tools and a mathematical model was used to make quantitative and qualitative analysis on web page load time in relationship to web page content. This research showed that university X’s website loads slowly within an average of 9.766 seconds and may even fail to load as indicated by its average downtime of 9.32%. For application performance across the internet to improve, the website load time must be on average 8 seconds which increases the image of the site hence the perceived quality of services or products offered and thus increasing stakeholders’ satisfaction. The findings of the study revealed that an increase in total size of web page content components is directly proportional to increase in response time and web page content components have different effects on web page load time. The evidence in this study shows that web page load time is mainly affected by its web page content characteristics. The study recommends web developers to measure web page response time against threshold values such as the 8 second rule during designing and implementation of a web page and adapt techniques identified which reduce load time.