A creative director called me today.

He found one of my portfolio websites through Internet search results. He said he liked my website and my photography and wanted a quote for a job. At the end of our conversation he said he thought my site was running a little slow.

Not good.

Right away I checked the site he mentioned. Sure enough, it was loading slowly.

This is a problem for two reasons.  First, a poor user experience will turn prospects away. Second, Google considers website speed as part of their algorithm for search results. If I want to compete in the search engine optimization race, my portfolio websites must load quickly.

Next, I tested the speed of my site and worked to make it load faster.  The first place I looked for the problem was size of  photos. Using Flash, iFrames, Javascript, plug-ins, and analytic software are all things that can contribute to slowing down a website.

Here are a few websites with free speed testers.  Take the time to measure your site against the competition; it’s the best benchmark.

http://tools.pingdom.com/

http://www.iwebtool.com/speed_test

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/