By Tim Kadlec CHAPTER 4MaKe iT viSual
If you’re trying to persuade a client or boss of the importance of perfor-
mance, augment the metrics with a visual.
One very effective method is to show them their site loading next to a
faster competitor site. If your client is McDonald’s and Burger King’s site
loads faster, first show them what they stand to gain by improving per-
formance, and then show them how Burger King beats them out. Nobody
likes to lose to a competitor.
You can easily do this with WebPageTest.org^8 using one of two meth-
ods. The first is to run a test for each site individually, selecting “Capture
Video” under the advanced settings. Save the two videos and queue them
up side by side.
WebPageTest also provides a “Visual Comparison” option. With this
method, you add the URLs for each page to compare and then run the test.
WebPageTest will capture screenshot of static images throughout the
The visual comparison option on WebPageTest.org lets you easily see
how quickly sites load when compared to each other.