One of the many frequently asked question when it comes to web site creation is how can I get that web site running faster? Well, if you have a lot of images and video – you might want to look at optimizing both for use on the Web. Plain text travels fast, but once you get into some of the extra goodies that add flavor to your web site you might be running into trouble.

How Can I Optimize Images for the Web?

Images are probably the easiest to optimize for the Web. Not many people do it correctly though. Most image formats are compacted enough as it is – but you need to use a few of the best formats for the best performance. Use .png, .jpg, .gif and please oh please stay away from .bmp. The .png format would be my absolute favorite to get the smallest file size and be best looking picture once the compression of the image has been said and done.

How Can I Optimize Video for the Web?

There is one easy way to optimize for video, use flash players instead of streaming embeds. You really want to save money and get a little exposure at the same time? Upload your videos to places like YouTube and link to it from them. That way you let them handle the hosting and conversion of the video and you also get some new eyeballs viewing your content.

How Can I Optimize Flash for the Web?

Best way to optimize for flash would be not to use it so much. My usual rule of thumb for people it to look at the flash on your web site and decide if it really needs to be there. It might look cool to have that rotating picture of a globe on your web site – but when it take 30 seconds to fully load do you really think people are sticking around to see it? I think not.