When a server opens a link in the form of “http://www.domain.com/about” it will need to figure what kind of file or webpage is contained on that address, wasting time on the process. If instead of using that link you include a slash (“/”) at the end like “http://www.domain.com/about/” the web server will already know that the link points to a directory, reducing the time to load the page.
The improvement on the loading time of links ending with a slash will not be astronomical, but when it comes to speeding up a website every small bit helps!
Speed Up Your Site Series:
- Optimize Images
- Image Formats
- Optimze Your CSS
- Use a Slash on Your Links
- Use the Height and Width Tags
- Reduce the HTTP Requests
