When you design a site....
 

When you design a site do you aim for a 56k user? I guess the appropriate question would be: How much of your traffic is from 56k users? I am debating how much to put on the front page of my site right now and any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

On index, warning or main pages, I use text where I can, and well-optimized images where I can't use text. I keep the page and image files as streamlined as possible, and I keep my pages compatible with people viewing on smaller-sized monitors, because not only are there a lot of people on dial ups and older computers still, but even surfers using the fastest digital connectivity can get bogged down from time to time. Servers become clogged, load times go up..... it's all part of the game, so I just try to keep my pages as lean and trimmed as possible.

Because no one likes to wait too long when there are other links to click that will load faster.

I don't tend to worry much about dialup users. I don't ignore them, but it's okay if it takes a moment to load the pages. Sort of like with 800 x 600... Make it work for them, but optimize for higher.

Always try to optimize your download times. Not only does it save you some bandwith, but keeps you customers happy.

:Graucho