11 Proven Ways to Optimize Website Performance

4 minutes, 23 seconds read

Published on Nov 26, 2019

Updated on Dec 18, 2019

Website performance optimization or simply, website optimization is a process of improving a website’s loading speed in the browser. It generally involves editing the website to optimize scripts, HTML, or CSS code and reducing the number of web page components like images, scripts, or video for faster loading.

What is web performance?

Web performance is the speed in which web pages are loaded and displayed on the user’s web browser.

The following are the website performance metrics-

#1 DNS lookup time

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet. Users access online information through domain names, like www.mantralabsglobal.com. Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so that browsers can load Internet resources.

#2 Initial connection

It is the time for a handshake between the browser and the server to retrieve the contents of the page. Handshaking is a process by which two devices initiate communications (here- browser and server). It initiates with the browser sending a message to the server indicating that it wants to establish a connection.

#3 Waiting time (TTFB)

It is the time spent waiting for the initial response, also known as the Time To First Byte. This time captures the latency (the delay between the instruction and data transfer) of a round trip to the server. It also accounts the time spent waiting for the server’s response.

#4 Download Time

It is the time spent receiving the response data.

11 Proven website performance optimization techniques

You’ll need to consider the following to enhance a website’s performance.

#1 Reduce DNS lookup time

Implement the following to reduce DNS lookup time-

Reduce the number of hostnames, that are used to generate a web page.
Host third party resources locally, which automatically reduces the DNS lookup.
Use DNS Cache, where cache time can be defined to different types of hosts, so it reduces the lookup time.
DNS prefetching: allows browsers to perform DNS lookup in the background while the user browses the current page.
Defer parsing Javascripts, which are not needed while loading a web page but render blockers.
Use a fast DNS provider: choose the DNS providers whose lookup time is minimal.

#2 Browser/Web cache

It is a temporary storage location on a computer for files that a browser downloads to display websites. Locally cached files may include any documents from a website, such as HTML files, CSS style sheets, JavaScript scripts, graphic images, and other multimedia content. When a user revisits the website, the browser checks for the updated content and downloads only those files or what is not already present in the cache. This reduces bandwidth usage on both the user and server-side and loads the page faster.

#3 Image Optimization

It is a process of delivering high-quality images in the right format, dimension, size, and resolution while keeping the smallest possible size. There are different ways to optimize images. You can resize, cache, or compress the image size.

#4 HTML, CSS, and JS Minification

While moving the source of website production, minify the contents of source code (Uglify), to reduce the overall size of the page. It will enhance the download speed for the page content on the web browser.

#5 HTML hierarchy

Maintain the standard HTML hierarchy, which means- push all the render-blocking scripts to the bottom of the page and keep only required assets on the header part of the load content. This way, the user doesn’t have to wait to see the actual page because of render-blocking scripts.

#6 Use Sprites

Sprite images are the group of images, which are combined to create a single image for a web page. As the number of server requests affects the bandwidth and loses the page speed score, it is better to combine all the possible images into sprite images.

#7 Enable compression

The web standards suggest GZIP compression. It is effective for optimum bandwidth utilization while rendering the contents. Let’s say- the overall size of the assets is 900KB. Enabling GZIP compression can compress the content size to at least 600KB. This enhances the bandwidth and pages render at a faster rate.

#8 Use secure channels/protocols

Prefer using secured channels to load the web page contents. It prevents the malware intro into the page.

#9 Reduce the number of redirections

Use a very less number of redirections in the websites. The introduction of too many redirections will consume the DNS lookup time and affect the page load time.

#10 Use CDN

Use CDN paths for the static resources, which enhances the load time performance of the website. CDN is useful for pre-caching static resources, which helps in reducing the time-to-index and hence reduces the load time. Also, distributed data centers host CDNs. Therefore, the nearest CDN host will fetch the assets- boosting the performance of the website.

#11 Avoid hotlinking

Hotlinking is the process of directly using the content from another site into the source website. Avoiding this will affect the bandwidth of both sites.

Also read – Everything you need to know about Test Automation as a Service.

why do we need webpage performance optimization

Do you have any questions regarding your website performance? Feel free to comment or write to us at hello@mantralabsglobal.com & stay tuned for our next article on 8 Factors that Affect Page Load Time & Website Optimization Strategies.

Let’s take a trip back in time—2008. Netflix was nothing like the media juggernaut it is today. Back then, they were a DVD-rental-by-mail service trying to go digital. But here’s the kicker: they hit a major pitfall. The internet was booming, and people were binge-watching shows like never before, but Netflix’s infrastructure couldn’t handle the load. Their single, massive system—what techies call a “monolith”—was creaking under pressure. Slow load times and buffering wheels plagued the experience, a nightmare for any platform or app development company trying to scale

That’s when Netflix decided to do something wild—they broke their monolith into smaller pieces. It was microservices, the tech equivalent of turning one giant pizza into bite-sized slices. Instead of one colossal system doing everything from streaming to recommendations, each piece of Netflix’s architecture became a specialist—one service handled streaming, another handled recommendations, another managed user data, and so on.

But microservices alone weren’t enough. What if one slice of pizza burns? Would the rest of the meal be ruined? Netflix wasn’t about to let a burnt crust take down the whole operation. That’s when they introduced the Circuit Breaker Pattern—just like a home electrical circuit that prevents a total blackout when one fuse blows. Their famous Hystrix tool allowed services to fail without taking down the entire platform.

Fast-forward to today: Netflix isn’t just serving you movie marathons, it’s a digital powerhouse, an icon in platform engineering; it’s deploying new code thousands of times per day without breaking a sweat. They handle 208 million subscribers streaming over 1 billion hours of content every week. Trends in Platform engineering transformed Netflix into an application dev platform with self-service capabilities, supporting app developers and fostering a culture of continuous deployment.

Did Netflix bring order to chaos?

Netflix didn’t just solve its own problem. They blazed the trail for a movement: platform engineering. Now, every company wants a piece of that action. What Netflix did was essentially build an internal platform that developers could innovate without dealing with infrastructure headaches, a dream scenario for any application developer or app development company seeking seamless workflows.

And it’s not just for the big players like Netflix anymore. Across industries, companies are using platform engineering to create Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs)—one-stop shops for mobile application developers to create, test, and deploy apps without waiting on traditional IT. According to Gartner, 80% of organizations will adopt platform engineering by 2025 because it makes everything faster and more efficient, a game-changer for any mobile app developer or development software firm.

All anybody has to do is to make sure the tools are actually connected and working together. To make the most of it. That’s where modern trends like self-service platforms and composable architectures come in. You build, you scale, you innovate.achieving what mobile app dev and web-based development needs And all without breaking a sweat.

Is Mantra Labs Redefining Platform Engineering?

We didn’t just learn from Netflix’s playbook; we’re writing our own chapters in platform engineering. One example of this? Our work with one of India’s leading private-sector general insurance companies.

Their existing DevOps system was like Netflix’s old monolith: complex, clunky, and slowing them down. Multiple teams, diverse workflows, and a lack of standardization were crippling their ability to innovate. Worse yet, they were stuck in a ticket-driven approach, which led to reactive fixes rather than proactive growth. Observability gaps meant they were often solving the wrong problems, without any real insight into what was happening under the hood.

That’s where Mantra Labs stepped in. Mantra Labs brought in the pillars of platform engineering:

Standardization: We unified their workflows, creating a single source of truth for teams across the board.

Customization: Our tailored platform engineering approach addressed the unique demands of their various application development teams.

Traceability: With better observability tools, they could now track their workflows, giving them real-time insights into system health and potential bottlenecks—an essential feature for web and app development and agile software development.

We didn’t just slap a band-aid on the problem; we overhauled their entire infrastructure. By centralizing infrastructure management and removing the ticket-driven chaos, we gave them a self-service platform—where teams could deploy new code without waiting in line. The results? Faster workflows, better adoption of tools, and an infrastructure ready for future growth.

But we didn’t stop there. We solved the critical observability gaps—providing real-time data that helped the insurance giant avoid potential pitfalls before they happened. With our approach, they no longer had to “hope” that things would go right. They could see it happening in real-time which is a major advantage in cross-platform mobile application development and cloud-based web hosting.

The Future of Platform Engineering: What’s Next?

As we look forward, platform engineering will continue to drive innovation, enabling companies to build scalable, resilient systems that adapt to future challenges—whether it’s AI-driven automation or self-healing platforms.

If you’re ready to make the leap into platform engineering, Mantra Labs is here to guide you. Whether you’re aiming for smoother workflows, enhanced observability, or scalable infrastructure, we’ve got the tools and expertise to get you there.

11 Proven Ways to Optimize Website Performance