Website Speed Through Better Design Choices
TL;DR:
- Beautiful design means nothing if your site loads slowly
- Every design choice affects loading speed, from fonts to images
- Limit typefaces and optimise image formats for better performance
- Fast sites rank better in search results and keep users happy
A slow website feels broken, even when it's not. Your design choices directly impact how quickly your site loads, so you need to think about performance from day one.
Why Speed Matters for Design
Users expect websites to load instantly. If yours takes more than a few seconds, people assume something's wrong and leave. This isn't just about user experience anymore – search engines factor site speed into rankings too.
Speed used to be purely a developer concern, but modern web design requires you to consider performance with every design decision you make.
How Design Choices Affect Performance
Every element on your page adds to the loading time. Here's how to make smarter choices:
Keep Your Fonts Simple
Multiple font families and weights create extra requests to load. Each font file your site needs to download slows things down.
Stick to one or two font families maximum. If you need variety, use different weights of the same font rather than completely different typefaces.
Choose the Right Image Format
Images are usually the biggest culprit for slow sites. The format you choose makes a huge difference:
- JPEG for photographs and complex images
- PNG for graphics with transparency or fewer than 16 colours
- SVG for logos, icons, and simple graphics
- WebP for modern browsers (with fallbacks)
Always compress images before uploading. Tools like TinyPNG or built-in compression in design software can reduce file sizes by 70% without visible quality loss.
Be Selective with Animations
Animations can make your site feel lively, but they come with a performance cost. Use them sparingly and only where they genuinely improve the user experience.
CSS animations typically perform better than JavaScript-based ones. If you must use complex animations, consider loading them only when needed rather than on initial page load.
Streamline Your Design Elements
More elements mean more code and more things to load. A cleaner, more focused design often performs better than something packed with features.
This doesn't mean boring – it means intentional. Every element should serve a purpose.
Performance Tips for Squarespace
If you're using Squarespace 7.1, the platform handles much of the technical optimisation automatically. However, your design choices still matter:
- Use Squarespace's built-in image optimisation
- Avoid embedding too many external scripts or widgets
- Test your site speed regularly using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights
For Squarespace 7.0 sites, you have less control over technical optimisation, making smart design choices even more important.
Testing and Measuring Speed
Use these tools to check your site's performance:
- Google PageSpeed Insights
- GTmetrix
- Pingdom Website Speed Test
Test on both desktop and mobile. Mobile performance is particularly important since most users browse on phones.
FAQs
How much do font choices really affect site speed?
Each font family and weight requires a separate file download. A site using five different fonts might load 2-3 seconds slower than one using two fonts.
What's the biggest mistake people make with images?
Uploading massive files straight from their camera or design software. A 5MB image that displays at 500px wide is wasteful and slow.
Do animations always slow down websites?
Not necessarily. Simple CSS animations have minimal impact. It's complex JavaScript animations and multiple simultaneous animations that cause problems.
How fast should my website load?
Aim for under 3 seconds on desktop and under 4 seconds on mobile. Anything longer and you'll start losing visitors.
Jargon Buster
Optimisation: Making your website files smaller and more efficient without losing quality or functionality.
SEO: Search Engine Optimisation – techniques to help your site rank higher in Google and other search engines.
WebP: A modern image format that creates smaller files than JPEG or PNG while maintaining quality.
CSS vs JavaScript animations: CSS animations are handled by the browser's graphics engine and usually perform better than JavaScript-based animations.
Wrap-up
Fast websites aren't just nice to have – they're essential. Your design choices directly impact how quickly your site loads, which affects both user experience and search rankings.
Focus on the basics: limit fonts, optimise images, and keep your design clean. These simple changes can dramatically improve your site's performance without sacrificing visual appeal.
Remember to test regularly. What feels fast on your high-speed office connection might crawl on mobile data.
Ready to dive deeper into website optimisation techniques? Join Pixelhaze Academy for advanced tutorials and expert guidance.