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Mobile Web Performance Optimization
Mobile Web Performance Optimization

Mobile Web Performance Optimization: Deliver a better mobile user experience by improving and optimizing your website – follow these practical steps for cutting-edge application development

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Paperback Dec 2015 150 pages 1st Edition
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Paperback Dec 2015 150 pages 1st Edition
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Mobile Web Performance Optimization

Chapter 2. Mobile Web Optimization Essentials

By now you know the limitations of the mobile devices and why Mobile Web Optimization is necessary. In this chapter, I will share with you some of my experiences that I have learned from in the last couple of years. The majority of these techniques are fairly easy to implement, but the outcome that they produce is huge. So, I encourage you to go through each section thoroughly because they hold the key to revealing the secrets of Mobile Web Optimization world.

Also, I assume you at least have a basic knowledge of web design and frontend web development to understand this chapter properly. However, if you are new to the game, don't worry; I can assure you going through the following sections is not going to be a waste of time, and you will get many things out of them that you are going to remember for a long time.

In this chapter, we are going to discuss the following sections:

  • Mobile-only websites versus responsive websites
  • How to...

Mobile-only websites versus responsive websites

A couple of years ago I was given the opportunity to build a website for an insurance company. The website was modern, and it had many features. Even a user was able to customize and purchase an insurance policy by spending a couple of minutes browsing the website. After launching the website, the client realized that he had an excellent opportunity to enter the mobile market because back then, mobile browsing was in its early stages. So, the following month he contacted us and asked us to build a mobile version of the website.

When we read the requirement, we realized that the mobile website had a similar functionality; only the UI was going to be different. So, we used the same codebase that the desktop version had, and we created a new website using the existing code. This was a popular method at that time, and the mobile website had a different URL. Once the user entered the original website using a mobile device, our script detected the...

Image size matters

As mentioned in the previous chapter, mobile networks have many limitations compared to a wired connection. So, reducing the file size as much as possible is really essential in mobile web development. According to the data (https://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html), 70-80 percent of sites' bandwidth is consumed by the images. Therefore, delivering smaller file size images with acceptable quality to the mobile will always provide a better outcome.

When it comes to image optimization, there are two key factors that you need to always keep in mind. They are as follows:

  • Resize your images to correct image resolution
  • Reduce the file size.

Resize your images to correct image resolution

There are two methods to measure the size of an image. You can get the image height and width and calculate the physical image size as well as the number of pixels. Also, you can measure the file size by calculating the byte count.

Images that are not appropriately sized will cause...

Unnecessary contents

Mobile devices have had an exquisite journey so far, but there are still some issues with them, because of their physical limitations. There are different sizes of smartphones and tablets available in the market and to serve those devices, the developer should include flexibility into his design. However, many mobile users still find it a bit difficult to read mobile content because many developers try to add as much information on the mobile screen and most of the time they try to replicate the desktop screen in the mobile.

However, doing this does not only create performance issues for the mobile devices but it will also create some issues in user experience as well. So, when building a mobile website, developers should ask the following questions to themselves:

  • What are my users going to do with my mobile website or application?
  • What are the commonly used cases for my mobile application or website?
  • What is the most important information that I should provide for my user...

Why design and UX are important

UX is not a new concept to the mobile world. Because of the limitations of the mobile devices many designers and developers give their attention to UX but, the question of compromising between performance and UX still seeks a clear answer.

The fundamental of mobile UX is very similar to desktop UX. However, the mobile technology is still evolving at a rapid pace, and the UX best practices are still emerging.

Mobile UX is all about how to keep the balance between, things that you are going to keep on the home page and how are you going to manage the rest of the contents. Also, it is really important that you provide a strong visual element to the user to help, how to navigate the site. As an example, you should clearly define the clickable area in your website or application. Without clearly defined buttons, the user will get confused, and they will spend more time trying to find the website's behavior.

The following are a few points that you can consider...

Summary

In this chapter, we have discussed the importance of reducing HTTP requests and how to do so by using techniques such as CSS sprites and combining files. Also, we talked about the enabling of Gzip on the server and its benefits. We have discussed the importance of image optimization and the tools that we can use to do so. We have also discussed a few free online tools that we can make use of, and found that they are easy to handle. After this, we discussed content management and why it is necessary to remove duplicate contents. Finally, we explored the importance of UX and its effects on a mobile site.

In the next chapter, we will take a look at the techniques that we can use to optimize our mobile website. The chapter will guide you on how to use HTML 5, CSS3, media quarries, and much more.

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Key benefits

  • • Optimize your website or application for an improved mobile performance
  • • Learn how to create lightweight, intuitive mobile UI and make sure it's supported by a robust application architecture
  • • Find out how to improve the performance of your applications by asking the right design questions at each stage in the development workflow

Description

With users increasingly accessing the web on mobile devices, it’s crucial to make sure your website is built to seamlessly fit this radical change in user behavior. Mobile Web Performance Optimization is designed to help you do exactly that – it’s been created to help you build fast, and mobile-user-friendly websites and applications. Featuring guidance through a range of techniques and tools essential to modern mobile development, this accessible guide will make sure you’re delivering a seamless and intuitive experience for your website’s users. Begin by exploring the fundamental components of mobile web design and website optimization, before learning how to put the concepts into practice. Featuring cross-platform solutions, insights on developing lightweight yet robust UI, and insights on how to successfully manage data, this application development book takes you through every stage in the development process – so you can be confident that you’re asking the right questions and using the best tools in the most effective way. By the end, you’ll understand implicitly what it means to ‘build for performance’- you’ll be a more confident developer, capable of building projects that adapt to a changing world.

Who is this book for?

This book has been created for web developers who want to optimize their website for today’s mobile users. If you understand just how important user experience is, this book is for you – it will help you throughout the entire optimization process.

What you will learn

  • • Learn the three pillars of mobile performance
  • • Find out how to ask – and answer – crucial design questions such as ‘mobile or responsive?'
  • • Learn how to minify CSS and JavaScript for improved performance
  • • Monitor and debug your website with the leading browser testing tools
  • • Explore the impact of caching on performance – and improve it using JavaScript and CSS frameworks
  • • Make third-party plugins your friend – avoid common issues and pitfalls

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Dec 28, 2015
Length: 150 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785289972
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Publication date : Dec 28, 2015
Length: 150 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785289972
Category :

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Table of Contents

8 Chapters
1. Pillars of Mobile Web Performance Optimization Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Mobile Web Optimization Essentials Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. How to Optimize Your Mobile Website Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Caching and Optimizing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Monitoring and Debugging Our Website Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Managing Third-Party Components Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Tips and Tricks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
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