YSlow: Make fewer HTTP requests More Recommendations

Rule Summary

Content
High
Moderate
44%

Overview

Reduce HTTP requests through combined files and CSS sprites.

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Details from Yahoo!

Decreasing the number of components on a page reduces the number of HTTP requests required to render the page, resulting in faster page loads.

recommends:

Some ways to reduce the number of components include:

  • Combine files
  • Combine multiple scripts into one script
  • Combine multiple CSS files into one style sheet
  • Use CSS Sprites and image maps

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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