3 Tips for Speeding Up Your Bootstrap Website

Key Points

• Download only necessary components in the Bootstrap package. Unnecessary components will increase the size of the website and reduce the speed. If certain features are not used, delete them to optimize speed.
• Do not use precompiled download packages, but choose source code. This way, you can include only the components you need, creating a leaner and more efficient stylesheet for your production environment.
• Implement proven client optimization techniques such as writing streamlined CSS and JavaScript code, compressing and merging CSS and JavaScript code, and optimizing image file size. These steps can significantly improve the speed and performance of your website.

Website optimization is a set of server-side and client-side technologies designed to speed up the loading and rendering of websites in the browser, thereby improving the user experience.

Now, visitors are accustomed to the immediacy and responsiveness of native apps. They expect the web page to load in 1000 milliseconds. If the loading time is much longer, they will most likely leave the site.

Search engines have undoubtedly caught up with this trend, and have promoted it in many ways. In fact, Google has always used page speed as a factor in website rankings in desktop search. Google announced that starting from July 2018, mobile search is also crucial to getting top rankings in the search results list.

Bootstrap is often criticized for adding unnecessary redundancy to your website, so if you use this popular front-end UI library in your project, make sure to pay extra attention to page size and page speed.

In this article, I will cover three front-end optimization steps that you can take to ensure your Bootstrap-based website is rendered quickly and well optimized.

Download only the Bootstrap package you need

If you decide to use the precompiled download package of Bootstrap, you should really think about what parts you really need.

The download folder contains the complete CSS library (bootstrap.css and bootstrap.min.css) and the JavaScript component library and all its dependencies (except jQuery) (bootstrap.bundle.js and bootstrap.bundle.min.js) , and many standalone CSS files that contain the code required for specific parts of this popular UI toolkit.

If you only need a nice CSS reset style, just use bootstrap-reboot.min.css. If you only need a flexible and easy to use grid system, use bootstrap-grid.min.css. No need to download the entire framework. On the other hand, if you know you want to use everything in the library, at least make sure to include a thin version.

The same is true for

JavaScript code. If you know that you don't need drop-down menus, pop-ups, and tooltips in your project, use bootstrap.min.js instead of bootstrap.bundle.min.js because you don't need to include Popper.js.

Select source code instead of precompiled download package

Although the latest version of Bootstrap allows you to select the parts you want to include in your project, precompiled files may still contain what you don't actually need.

The browser still has to download and process unused code, which can affect website performance, especially when the network connection is slow.

A better way is to download the Bootstrap source code because:

• You will be able to include exactly what components you need in your project
• Any part of the custom library becomes simpler and more efficient without repeated overwriting of styles
• Stylesheets that end up in production are usually more streamlined.

Using proven client optimization technology

Apart from the above points, optimizing Bootstrap-based websites for performance still must include front-end performance technology like any other website.

The following are the key factors for effective front-end website optimization that you can notice:

Writing streamlined CSS and JavaScript code

Each character in the code increases the final size of the web page. Writing concise and clear CSS and JavaScript code while keeping it readable is not easy. However, this should be the goal that every project should strive for.

Good CSS practices include removing unused selectors, duplicate code, and over-necked rules. It is best to keep the code organized at the beginning of the project. For example, using style guides can really benefit your development process and code quality.

In addition, there are some great tools to help you clean up your code. Code inspectors like CSS Lint and JSLint can check your document for syntax errors, inefficient encoding patterns, unused code, and more.

Compress and merge CSS and JavaScript code

An important optimization step is to limit the number of HTTP requests a website must perform in order to present its content. Each time you go back and forth to the server to get resources takes time, which negatively affects the user experience.

Compression (i.e. removing comments and spaces from documents) and merging CSS and JavaScript files have now become a solid practice designed to keep file sizes small and reduce the number of HTTP requests.

If you want to get a deeper look, Gary Stevens' How to Optimize CSS and JS to Speed ​​Up a Website is a great article.

Note the image file size

The heaviest parts of a web page are usually represented by image files, but audio and video files also play a role. Therefore, optimizing visual assets is crucial to website performance.

Doing this involves two aspects:

• Make sure you use the correct image format for the task at hand.
• Compress excess bytes from your resources before uploading to production. There are some great tools to help you. Check out online tools like TinyPNG (for raster images (PNG, JPG, etc.) and Jake Archibald's SSVGOMG (for SVG optimization). Also, consider tools that you can install locally, such as your favorite task runners (Grunt, Gulp, etc.).

Conclusion

A fast rendering of the website is a key factor in determining the user experience of the website. This becomes even more important when evaluating the web user experience on mobile devices.

In this article, I list many technologies that play a role in optimizing the performance of a Bootstrap website from a front-end development perspective.

What front-end optimization techniques do you have for fast loading Bootstrap websites? Please let me know in the comments!

If you already have the basics of Bootstrap but want to know how to take your Bootstrap skills to the next level, check out our Build Your First Website with Bootstrap 4 course for quick and easy Learn about the power of Bootstrap.

FAQs on Speeding Up Bootstrap Websites (FAQ)

Why can my Bootstrap website be slow?

There may be many reasons why your Bootstrap website is slow. One of the most common reasons is the use of unnecessary components and plugins. Bootstrap comes with a lot of components and plugins, and if you don't use them, it's better to remove them. Another reason may be that large images are used. Large images can greatly reduce the speed of the website. It is recommended that you optimize the image before uploading it to the website. Finally, not compressing CSS and JavaScript files can also slow down the website. Compressing these files can significantly increase the speed of your website.

How to optimize my Bootstrap website for better performance?

There are multiple ways to optimize your Bootstrap website for better performance. First, you should remove any unnecessary components and plugins. Bootstrap comes with a lot of components and plugins, and if you don't use them, it's better to remove them. Second, you should optimize the image before uploading it to the website. Large images can greatly reduce the speed of the website. Third, you should compress CSS and JavaScript files. Compressing these files can significantly increase the speed of your website.

What is compression and how does it increase website speed?

Compression is the process of removing unnecessary characters (such as spaces and comments) from the source code without changing their functionality. This reduces the size of the code, and in turn reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred to the user, thereby speeding up loading time.

How to compress my CSS and JavaScript files?

There are several online tools available to compress your CSS and JavaScript files. These tools remove unnecessary characters from your code, reducing their size and increasing loading time. Some popular compression tools include UglifyJS for JavaScript and CSSNano for CSS.

How to optimize the images of a Bootstrap website?

There are several ways to optimize the image of a Bootstrap website. One of the most effective ways is to compress the image before uploading it to the website. There are several online tools available to compress your images without significantly degrading their quality. Another way to optimize an image is to use the correct image format. For example, JPEG is generally more suitable for photos, while PNG is more suitable for images with transparent backgrounds.

What are some specific Bootstrap components that may slow down my website?

Yes, some Bootstrap components may slow down the website if used improperly. For example, if you use large images, the carousel component may slow down the website. It is recommended that you optimize your image before using it for carousel. Additionally, if modal components are loaded on each page, it may slow down the website. It is recommended to load modal components only on the required pages.

How to remove unnecessary Bootstrap components and plugins?

You can remove unnecessary Bootstrap components and plugins by customizing the Bootstrap version. This includes downloading the source file, deleting unwanted components and plugins, and then compiling the remaining files into a custom version.

Can I use CDN increase the speed of my Bootstrap website?

Yes, using a Content Distribution Network (CDN) can significantly increase the speed of your Bootstrap website. CDN provides static files (such as CSS, JavaScript, and images) of the website from a server geographically close to the user, thus speeding up loading time.

How to use CDN on my Bootstrap website?

You can use CDN and your Bootstrap website by linking to a Bootstrap file on the CDN in an HTML file. This includes replacing the local file path in the HTML file with the URL of the file on the CDN.

Are there any other tips for speeding up the Bootstrap website?

Yes, there are some other tips to speed up the Bootstrap website. For example, you should always place the JavaScript file at the end of an HTML file. This allows the rest of the page to be loaded before the JavaScript file, thus speeding up the perceived loading time. Additionally, you should use asynchronous loading for JavaScript files. This allows the file to load in the background without blocking the rest of the page.

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