Cut the File Size with These Three HTML Minification Tools

Key Points

• HTML compression, the process of removing redundant elements from a document, can reduce file size and improve code maintainability. Despite some controversy over its effectiveness, Google's PageSpeed ​​Insights recommends this method.
• The three tools that can automatically perform HTML compression are Minimize, Will Peavy's HTML Miniifier and Kangax HTML Miniifier. Each tool has unique features and features, such as removing HTML comments, unnecessary attributes, and spaces.
• Using HTML compression with GZipping, a technique for replacing duplicate strings with pointers, can further reduce file size. Although the results of these two techniques are different, using both simultaneously can save a small amount of bytes.

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Although there is no clear consensus on the benefits of HTML compression, if you test your website on Google's PageSpeed ​​Insights, part of the result you might get is that you should compress HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Compressing resources means removing redundant elements, i.e. browsers correctly process elements that are not needed by the document.

Apply this concept to HTML documents, compression may include:

• Remove HTML comments, as well as comments in inline CSS and JavaScript code
• Remove HTML code and spaces in inline CSS and JavaScript
• Delete unnecessary quotes, empty attributes, etc.
• Delete the CDATA section

These operations help reduce file size while also making it easier to keep the code simple and maintainable.

Comparison between GZipping and compressed resources

If you are using GZip, is it still worth compressing HTML?

One argument against HTML compression is that compressing HTML pages has removed spaces and reduced file size. This makes compression quite useless.

First of all, it must be noted that these two operations are not the same and do not get the same results.

The compressed result creates a file composed of completely valid code that the browser can parse and execute like an uncompressed version of the same file. On the other hand,

GZipping looks for all duplicate strings and replaces them with a pointer to the first instance of the string. ...On the network, GZipping is done directly by your server. ...The server compresses the file and sends it over the network like that. The browser receives the file and decompresses it before use.

Chris Coyer on CSS Tricks

That is, using these two techniques can save a small amount of bytes. For example, in GZipping and the Effects of Compressing HTML Files, Mads Kristensen discusses a small experiment that includes compressing and compressing four popular websites (i.e., amazon.com, cnn.com, twitter.com, and xbox.com) HTML file. The results show that by performing compression and compression, the file size is reduced by 9-16%.

The following tools will automatically perform the compression process for you.

Minimize

Minimize is an open source server-side HTML5 compressor based on node-htmlparser2.

This tool:

• Can compress HTML5 code (not old HTML drafts, no inline PHP code or template files)
• It is highly configurable
• Can distinguish between conditions IE comments

…and so on. You can visit the project page on GitHub for more details.

Will Peavy's HTML Miniifier

HTML Miniifier is an online HTML compression tool built using PHP.

To use it, paste your HTML into the text box, including any CSS and JavaScript you may add to the tag, and click the Compress button.

To ensure that the script is still valid after compression, Peavy recommends that you terminate JavaScript statements with a semicolon (;) and use multi-line comments (/* */)

Kangax HTML Miniifier

Kangax HTML Miniifier is a JavaScript-based HTML compressor with powerful features.

These are just some of the features of this tool:

• Delete HTML comments
• Delete comments in styles and scripts
• Delete the CDATA section
• Delete the quotation marks of the attribute
• Delete unnecessary attributes
• Delete blank attributes
• Verify input via HTMLLint

You can configure each option according to your needs.

To learn more about HTML Miniifier, you can find all the information in Kangax's HTML Miniifier Experiment and Perfect Suffer.

Conclusion

While it's not as common as compressing CSS and JavaScript, HTML compression is part of Google's PageSpeed ​​Insights recommendations. Whether it is worth it remains an open question.

In this article, I have listed three tools that can help you reduce the number of bytes on a webpage by automating many HTML compression tasks.

What about you, do you think compressing HTML is a good idea? What is your favorite HTML compression tool?

FAQs about HTML Compression Tools

What is HTML compression and why it is important?

HTML compression is a process of deleting unnecessary or redundant data from an HTML document without affecting its functionality. This includes removing spaces, line breaks, comments, and block separators. The importance of HTML compression is that it can reduce the size of HTML files, thereby speeding up website loading. Faster loading speeds can improve user experience and can improve your website's SEO ranking.

How does HTML compression tools work?

HTML compression tool reduces its overall file size by analyzing and rewriting text parts of a website. They remove unnecessary characters such as spaces, line breaks, and comments without changing the functionality of the website. Some tools also offer additional features such as CSS and JavaScript compression, as well as automatic HTML Tidy, which can further optimize your website.

What are some of the best HTML compression tools?

There are several HTML compression tools available, each with its unique features. Some of the most popular tools include HTMLMinifier, Miniify, and CleanCSS. HTMLMinifier is a highly configurable, well-tested, JavaScript-based HTML compressor. Miniify is a PHP5 application that helps you follow several rules of client performance. It combines multiple CSS or JavaScript files, removes unnecessary spaces and comments, and provides them with gzip encoding and the best client cache header. CleanCSS is a powerful CSS optimizer and formatter.

Will HTML compression affect my website functionality?

If it is done correctly, HTML compression should not affect your website functionality. It only removes unnecessary characters without changing the functionality of the code. However, it is always best to test your website after compression to make sure everything works properly. Some tools also provide a "safe mode" feature to ensure only safe optimization.

Is HTML compression a one-time process?

No, HTML compression is not a one-time process. Each time you update or change the HTML file, you should compress them again to ensure they are as optimized as possible. Some tools offer automatic compression, which can save you time and effort.

Will HTML compression improve SEO?

Yes, HTML compression can improve SEO of your website. By reducing the size of HTML files, compression can speed up the loading of the website. Faster loading speeds can improve user experience and improve your website's SEO ranking.

Can I compress CSS and JavaScript and HTML at the same time?

Yes, many HTML compression tools also provide CSS and JavaScript compression. This allows you to optimize all aspects of your website code, further improving load time and overall performance.

How much can I reduce the file size using HTML compression?

The amount of reduction in file size depends on the size of the original HTML files and how much unnecessary data they contain. However, you can usually expect to reduce file size by 10-20%.

What are the risks associated with HTML compression?

The biggest risk associated with HTML compression is that if the process is not operated correctly, an error may occur. This is why it is always best to test your website after compression. Some tools also provide a "safe mode" feature to ensure only safe optimization.

Does all websites require HTML compression?

While not all websites strictly require HTML compression, it is a best practice for improving website loading time and performance. It is especially beneficial for websites with large HTML files or wishing to optimize their SEO.

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