Using AJAX to ping any website?

[nixnerd]

So, I’m wondering if I can somehow use AJAX to “ping” any site. I have a website I’m building right now that is REALLY graphically intense… the cool part is, it’s all an illusion. All graphics are pure CSS and/or SVG and the blurred, full-page backgrounds are actually quite tiny. They’re just stretched huge and you can’t tell because they’re blurred.

So… I’m quite proud of how small the site is. I’d like to have a little tool on the site that allows users to compare the size of this site vs. popular sites like nike.com or whatever.

The idea being to prove to clients that you can have mega wow factor… without the bloat.

Basically, I need to retrieve the size of any site with AJAX… then return that value and display it on my little tool. Anyone have any pointers on where to start?

[Alen]

The idea being to prove to clients that you can have mega wow factor… without the bloat.

I honestly don’t think many clients care about this. And I think it could backfire.

The idea that you are somehow doing it better than ex. Nike, could be perceived as cocky or just not important to the client. Clearly if it’s good for Nike, it’s good for me.

I think it could be a cool tool we as developers can get geeky about, but as a client I might be put off by it or it’s possible it might leave me confused. Clients want to be reassured. Leave any possible confusion out.

[nixnerd]

I honestly don’t think many clients care about this. And I think it could backfire.

I think that this… like many things, would be dependent on how it’s framed and presented. One thing I will DEFINITELY avoid is suggesting sites to check it against. I would never say “Compare our site to x.” But… if they want to use it in that fashion… that’s cool.

I think it would be a very helpful tool, as for the most part, file sizes have a direct correlation to download speed. Is that the whole equation? No… but it’s a huge part of it. And I want to build a brand around insane speed and lightweight design, without sacrificing eye-candy one iota.

[Alen]

Once you release the code base into the wild, it’s at your clients mercy.

We recently had client, live posting from her phone and not realizing that images she was uploading were at 8MPs.

So if at launch your tool tells me my site is smaller, faster, whatever vs that site. The numbers going forward can/will change.

If they check it after 6 months and numbers are different, are they coming back to you with support tickets? I don’t know. Frame it however you think this might work but if the client is not technical this can put them off quick.

[nixnerd]

Once you release the code base into the wild, it’s at your clients mercy.

Oh believe me… I know. It would be on the main/”portfolio” site. Not… any sites we made for clients. And Nike.com was a completely trivial example. It’s more likely they would use the tool against they’re current website or a competitor website.

But… even if I don’t put this on my site… how would one go about doing it? It could be a cool, free tool on its own. I could snap up a .io for it and let people use it for free… completely separate from our site.

[Alen]

There is a API you could use with WebPageTest https://sites.google.com/a/webpagetest.org/docs/advanced-features/webpagetest-restful-apis

[nixnerd]

Thanks Alen. Now that I went to that link… I see there are about 1 billion websites that do the same thing. I’ve only ever used Google page speed… had no idea there were so many.

This won’t even be worth buying a domain for.

Could still be a cool tool for clients… provided I don’t come off like a jerk in the process.

[__]

For client your average client? Maybe not so much. Unless of course, your clients are developers.

That summarizes my take on it.

[Alen]

I only use webpagetest.org and developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights

That’s it. No idea of any others.

[nixnerd]

For client your average client? Maybe not so much. Unless of course, your clients are developers.

Well… that’s assuming your target client has no idea that page size has anything to do with speed. That MAY be true… but I doubt it. Everyone has downloaded stuff and everyone knows that.

Now… That in and of itself doesn’t make it useful. You have to clearly explain and tell the story surrounding it in a VERY concise fashion for it to work… which, isn’t a bad thing.

When responsive web design was still new and novel, people had to explain WHY a company would want it. It’s not immediately obvious. I’ve had clients say “Well… my whole page fits inside the iphone… so why change it?”

Just because something is an abstract idea and/or hard to explain, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t mention it.

But… being an early adopter of this sort of feature would definitely be dangerous and I’d get a lot of flack. Still might do it though. I’ve implemented similar things in other sales situations that worked great. Could have backfired… but didn’t.

[Alen]

that’s assuming your target client has no idea that page size has anything to do with speed

This is not the case all the time. It’s the technique we employ to make this happen. Weight in KBs doesn’t necessarily equate to slow site.

Clients are somewhat familiar with popular tools out there. So using the same services makes sense for me. Here’s a site I’m optimizing collegiatepress.com, here’s dev version collegiatepressdev.neu.edu there’s nothing more powerful that showing the client all A’s. That’s one thing they can understand. :D

[nixnerd]

Weight in KBs doesn’t necessarily equate to slow site.

I hate to admit this… I really do. But, in the context of making a sale… it doesn’t really matter. Is it misleading? Ehhh, I don’t really see it that way. I see it as accentuating what you do better than your competitors. However, I totally get what you’re saying.

…there’s nothing more powerful that showing the client all A’s. That’s one thing they can understand. :D

That is one thing I cannot deny. Sometimes it’s best to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[nixnerd]

Weight in KBs

Also Alen, I think you’re being quite generous with some of the agencies out there. I’ve seen sites that are pushing 2MB+.

[shaneisme]

It can be 10GB if you want, as long as it’s loaded only when its needed :)

(and maybe a warning that scrolling too far down the site will use up your mobile bandwidth in one go…)

[nixnerd]

@shaneisme No doubt. Again… sometimes you just need to give clients something to believe in. Everybody sells a dream… whether they know it or not.

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