We can define the speed in websites as how fast can the data be transmitted between the visitor and the host's server. It should be noted that to measure this kind of speed, we need special devices for detecting the speed accurately. This will involve the communication between different computers regardless of their distance apart. The user is supposed to be in a position to ask himself questions like; "How can I improve the speed of my website?" Such questions can only get a solution by following the correct and efficient method of testing your website speed. What is important is testing the speed of your website relative to the other sites and this will actually help many users to tell how best their websites can perform as compared to other websites.
Some of the causes of slowness in web pages include; poor hosting environment, programming issues, inappropriate page design, and slow database lookup among others. Speed in web pages can be tested through pinging. This is done at the MS-DOS prompt using a simple command. The results display themselves in a complicated way and can only be read by a specialist in the ping usage. To ping a computer is just like sending a normal message to another computer elsewhere. There is time taken between the moment you send the message and when it is got by the receiver. Therefore, the ping is in a position to measure that lapse time and this can give a reliable idea of the speed of the web after successive experiments on the same.
It can also be noted that speed in websites can be tested using a trace rout. As the name depicts, it is used to trace the rout between the computer and the server. As the information is transmitted from one computer to another, it passes through different routes and thus the trace rout will be in a position to tell the number of routes involved. Using this therefore, users can be able to test their websites host online for speed.