BLOG load time should be 30 seconds or less...

so I've been told.

Actually, reading different sites on the subject of how fast your page should load..

7 SECONDS or less.!! WOW...I would faint and fall over dead if I ever found one

that loaded THAT QUICK....or if MINE loaded that fast...*dream on....
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Has anyone else out there noticed that some blogs are getting slower and slower and harder to even leave a comment on ?

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If our BLOGS are loading too slowly,

guess what ....we're losing visitors and comments. BELIEVE ME when I say that I am the LAST person on Blog Earth to even begin to try to understand all the things that you can do to help faster load time....

BUT....

I have been seeing a LOT of slow loaders lately...some are REALLY slow....others even slower.

Google is full of ways to improve your load time.....I just don't UNDERSTAND the things they tell me to do....and to get "into" any of the dreaded codes scares the daylights outa me. Because, I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND them...

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But, I've been taught a few things (in plain English) that may help US to speed up our blogs...just thought I'd share with you some these things...
I really appreciate the advice and tips other bloggers have given me..

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MY blog is already loading faster since doing these suggested things...but I'm NOT THERE YET

FIRST and foremost of the " DRAG IT ON DOWN" widgets is MUSIC...

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If you are playing music on your site, it is slowing your load time considerably.

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There's other players that won't DRAG you down quite as much.

I don't know the names of them but I can surely TRY to find out, IF YOU WANT.

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I love music SO much but it dawned on me not long ago that

NOT EVERYONE LIKES THE SAME KIND OF MUSIC.

I visit blogs all the time that play music that I JUST DON'T CARE FOR...

so I turn off my speakers.

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"HEY", I thought..."Maybe THEY don't like LITTLE RICHARD, FATS,

BOB SEGAR....and HEAVEN FORBID.........RAY CHARLES....."...well, DUH !!

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So, what's the point of having music, at all, if it's not pleasing to your readers...

and we ALL know......

"You can please some of the people ALL of the time..

and all the people SOME of the time....but never all the people all the time.."

.....or SOMEthing like that, anyway..:)

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So, if the music is making for slower page load time, and no one is listening to it anyway...

what's the point ?
I REMOVED MY PLAYLIST....

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Some of you may have voted in the MUSIC POLL I had on my sidebar last week...

About 40% LIKED50% HATED10% DIDN'T GIVE A FLYIN' FLIP.....

Sooo THERE YA ARE..

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If you are using a BACKGROUND widget, I'm told that it should be placed at the BOTTOM

of your blog...down there.....in the middle....the foot note place.

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Now, SEE...I was told to ALWAYS KEEP IT AT THE TOP but when I moved

it down to the center bottom........FASTER !!.....YEP !!

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I REFUSE to give up my BACKGROUND widget.

Just the plain colored backgrounds look FLAT to me......

much like a FLAT PAINT...

I love the lighter backgrounds...they DO show off your photos better...

but, the TEXTURE is missing unless you use a grey on white, cream on cream

or such...

JUST my PREFRENCE, THO.....:-)

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It makes sense that THE fewer HTML widgets you have, THE BETTER off your blog is.
Getting rid of those that aren't REALLY needed will help tremendously.

With so many bloggers having HTML BLOG BUTTONS and all of us

TRYING to get them all...it's really caused OVERLOAD...!

MAYBE WE'RE GETTIN' TOO BIG FOR OUR BRITCHES! :))

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We CAN just have the PHOTO of the button, link it, without the HTML business.

right ??

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I have deleted a LOT of my widgets and will continue to CLEAN HOUSE until

I have SMOOTHER BLOG SAILING.

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AND....now, THIS one REALLY, REALLY HURTS....

our beautiful, LARGE...HUGE...AWESOME photos......

Oh, boy....they, too, are ROBBING us of FASTER LOADS.

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I really hate to say that some of the blogs that use the larger photos ALL THE TIME are REALLY slow loading...causing stress on the readers.
If MINE has been too dang slow.....I am so sorry, ya'll.

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Some of the blogs that use a lot of HUGE photos are taking SOOO long to load...

and the pictures roll until it's hard to even view...

It can be so frustrating...and

I DON'T WANT MY BLOG to be frustrating to ANY of you.
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I am going back to just the LARGE photos on BLOGGER except for a precious few.

(I mean...after all...I AM a grandmother and grandloves SHOULD be pictured

as BIG as we can get 'em....right? :)

There's some photos that I love to enlarge...but NOT ALL OF THEM.
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I've had to drop a few blogs that I really enjoyed but the long wait period for loading fully..

so that I could even SEE the photos, is just taking too much time.

THEN, when I'm hit with WORD VERIFICATION on top of the long wait, that takes

another few minutes THAT I DON'T HAVE...and I'm pullin' my hair out by that time.

Some blogs take as much as 2-4 MINUTES to fully load so that even

the WRITING is visiable...I'm afraid THESE BLOGS ARE BEING BYPASSED.
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I am sorry if MY blog has been one of THESE for you.

I promise.....I'm working on it....

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THIS ONE doesn't have anything to do with LOAD TIME, but just a hint that might

be helpful....

STARK WHITE backgrounds are HARD...VERY hard on the eyes.

If you don't want to use a BACKGROUND WIDGET,

you might consider using a hint of tint ...it sure will make it MUCH more pleasant for your READERS..

and THAT'S a big part of blogging.
In fact....."If readers aren't happy....ain't NOBODY happy!!"

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YOU may not EVEN realize that you have WORD VERIFICATION on..

We have been blessed with a SPAM folder now so there's NO NEED

to lose comments just because you have a verification on there..

Just go to your settings and MAKE SURE you have not CHECKED

WORD VERIFICATION..
I promise that you will see an increase in comments...

which, of course, means MORE FOLLOWERS. ;))

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NO ONE wants to be considered SLOW.....

StopWatch...

a really great place to CHECK YOUR LOAD SPEED...
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I'm working hard to make my blog as pleasant for YOU as I possibly can.

Would you be so KIND to let me know if it seems to be LOADING SLOW ?

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and, IF YOU WANT, I'll be sure to let you know about yours, too.

Sometimes we just don't realize how slow it is...

until some KIND SOUL tells us so we can TRY to make things better.

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I guess it's kinda like when NO ONE tells you that you have SPINACH between your teeth

until you see YOUR BEST FRIEND....

SHE will tell you 'cause she love you!!

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I am hoping these little tips I'VE learned will help YOU, too.

And, if you would,

PLEASE.....PA-LEZZZZZZ tell us of any TIPS

that YOU might have to share..Sure would appreciate it.

We're all in this AWESOME blogging together and it's so great

that we can help each other along the way....

and all the time....

HAVING SO MUCH FUN !

BONDING together, HELPING each other....
this is why BLOGGING is so great in so many ways for all of us.

THANK YOU for being my blogging friends...I LOVE YOU ALL...