The average size of a webpage has increased every year. A whopping 467% increase since 2011, the average webpage size is now 2.6 megabytes. Thanks to the proliferation of broadband, the average load time has actually decreased 25% since 2012 from 2.8 seconds to 2.1 seconds . This means these larger webpages are being delivered much faster, despite their bloat.
It got me thinking, what else does this sound like? SUVs of course! Modern SUVs are large, capable, powerful automobiles designed to move people and stuff in comfort. Despite these SUVs getting heavier each year, more powerful engines means they haven’t gotten any slower (a scary reality).
Websites like automobiles comes in a huge variety of sizes and configurations. From large semi-trucks, to sleek sports cars each automobile is built for a purpose. Similarly, a website can be built to be lean, light and fast like a sports car, or big, powerful and (probably) slow like a truck.
Modern websites are built to serve the needs of the users and the goals of the owners. Much like SUVs, modern websites are asked to do a lot of different things, and many times the results are big webpages.
But that’s OK! SUVs and feature rich websites are very useful, and not everyone is comfortable or happy with operating a sports car, or a big truck every day.
Optimizing for speed is inherent when building every website. However, the realities of operating a business online means that sometimes we have to choose features over performance.
A final note about the market finding the right balance: Big, traditional SUVs have been surpassed in sales by compact SUVs like the Toyota RAV-4 and Honda CRV. These small SUVs are capable, fuel efficient, reasonably priced and and a result serve the needs for the majority of the market. They aren’t great at anything specific, but as a result they are great vehicles.
Certainly not every website should be a RAV-4, but understanding why this approach is successful will help guide and inform your decisions.
