Decreasing the number of components on a page reduces the number of HTTP requests required to render the page, resulting in faster page loads.
YSlow recommends:
Some ways to reduce the number of components include:
Reducing the number of HTTP requests in your page is the place to start. This is the most important guideline for improving performance for first time visitors. As described in Tenni Theurer's blog post Browser Cache Usage - Exposed!, 40-60% of daily visitors to your site come in with an empty cache. Making your page fast for these first time visitors is key to a better user experience.
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