But Website speed. How long does it take for your website to download? In today’s world a fast streamlined website is a must. If a user has to wait for more than about a second your site will be left and the user gone. Possibly forever.  This is not good. They will have missed the fabulous website you have (especially true if you used DP Web Development!)

So you need to optimise your website for speed.  Here are nine golden rules to follow.

• Clean code.  The websites code should be as clean and error free as possible. There should be no unnecessary code being transferred as this will waste time and may even be acted upon.  A few obvious candidates spring to mind: are all the classes and ids still needed? Some may now be redundant and can be removed. Can your CSS be cleaned up at all? Remember white space is not needed in CSS.

• Choose a good host. It’s true. The host you use does matter.  If you’re running on poor hardware using old versions of PHP (or other language) then your website will suffer. You need to pick a good host. Google the host thoroughly and make sure it meets your needs, but also has room to grow. As well as finding out which versions of PHP it is running it might also be worth considering the geographic location of the host. This may impact support services.

• Image size. Images should be made as light as possible.  Wight is measure in KB.  Cropping and resizing should all be done yourself outside of the server before being uploaded as automatic server side scaling does not care about speed.  Also ask yourself does your website really need that huge image, what does it add. Images should only really be used if they serve a specific purpose. Do you really need 12 images on the home page?

• Load StyleSheets first, before JavaScripts.  The CSS before any JavaScript. The reason for this I that while CSS is crucial for the page JavaScript is less so. The look of the page needs CSS to load while most of the JavaScript functionality isn’t.

• Minify CSS and JavaScript. While it is a good idea to mash up all of your CSS files into on big file (no point in making lots of additional requests slowing you down). It is also a good idea to remove all white space and put the code on one line. This will make the code hard to read but the aim is to keep files small.

• Use CSS Sprites.  For icons, logos and other images that may appear together on a regular basis it worth considering suing CSS Sprites.  This will keep your images all in one file thus increasing download speed: there will be fewer images to process.  Have a look at how to use sprites.

• Avoid unnecessary external files.  Do you need to include a Facebook “like” on every page along with your Flickr account, YouTube Channel updates and all other such files? There may be a perfectly good reason for doing so especially in today’s interactive world. It each one will have an effect on the speed of your website. So keep an eye on this. Don’t keep your visitors waiting for files they do not need.

• Cache! Utilise Cache to speed up your website Your CMS of choice may has this built in in which case all is well and good. It is worth checking and finding out what you can do.

• Test the Speed of Your site. And don’t just use your own superfast broadband!  This can be a starting point. Use different machines (if you have access to them) for a more systematic approach there are online tools that can help. One such site is http://getfirebug.com. There are others out there and a Google search will help.

What are your tips on speeding up a website? Is it really necessary now that Broadband is becoming ever more widespread? Do mere seconds really make a difference?

Facebook is, by some distance, the world’s most popular Social Network. (Still it wasn’t worth $1billion!) And while it can be great at losing you your job it isn’t the best one to use when looking for one or connecting with like minded professionals.

This title goes to LinkedIn. The place to be for all business professionals. It is without a doubt the king of business networks. With membership of over 200 million and growing, it is becoming ever more important to have a stand out page. There are even people who make a living offering services on how to do this!

Let me save you some money with a few tips.

Firstly you simply need to be prepared to put time and effort into creating a good profile that will get you noticed. This time and effort, of course, need to be focused in the right direction otherwise it will be wasted.

So here are the golden rules:

• It may seem obvious but you must create a full profile.  Incomplete profiles will reflect badly on the author. If they cannot even be bothered to fill in their own profile what does that say about their work ethic? Their attention to detail? Their own self-worth?

• As always Content is King. Quality content. You need to sell yourself in the introduction. Create an attention grabbing headline and remember to use plenty of key words. Potential employers and client swill take a peek at LinkedIn so make sure your key skills are covered

• Recommendations. Get good clients, colleagues (not mum) to tell others they enjoyed working with you and what you are particularly good at. It is important to keep these current. Out of date will have a negative effect. If you last recommendation is over two years old what’s happened to you in the meantime?

• Join Groups.   Groups offer a great way to network with like minded individuals in you area. Both professionally and more often than not geographically as well. Many groups hold physical networking events allowing people to meet face to face. Be proactive in the groups. Comment on themes. You could even start your own group. This is a great way to earn even more exposure

• Connections. Make as many connections as possible. Don’t make irrelevant connections or unrelated links. Keep focused on your key skills.

• Update you status!  There is nothing worse than an old out dated profile (it would be better to delete it). Make sure your details are up to date. That all information is correct. It never does any harm to continually tweak your profile making small improvement. In no time  it will start to stand out! Remember: make the effort and you will be rewarded.

Looking for inspiration? Not sure where to start. One of the best methods is to look at other profiles. Check out people in your niche and see what you like and don’t like. How would you improve on what they have. What did they do well ?

Some stats:

LinkedIn was launched in 2003. Here are some members by country with the US leading the way:

• USA: 74 million members
• India: 18 million members
• UK:  11 million members
• Brazil: 11 million members
• Canada: 7 million members

Do have an awesome profile? Why not share it. What tips have I missed?