In the context of web development, a huge Document Object Model (DOM) can seriously impair a website’s performance and user experience. An adaptable object is represented by each node in the DOM, which is a tree that represents the structure of a document.
Excessive DOM size can cause poorer responsiveness, slower page rendering, and higher memory utilization, particularly on low-resource devices like tablets and smartphones.
Have you ever been working on your WordPress website when you got a warning saying, “Avoid an Excessive DOM Size”? Yes, there is a little headache. When the Document Object Model (DOM) size of your webpage exceeds recommended limits, this alert appears.
But don’t worry, WordPress site optimization will help you resolve this. This entails simplifying your page’s parts and effectively organizing your HTML. Additionally, exercise caution while selecting themes and plugins since they may increase the size of your DOM.4
I hope this blog post is helpful. It offers feasible ways to address the “Avoid an Excessive DOM Size” alert. By the time it’s all over, you’ll know exactly how to speed up and enhance user experience on your WordPress website.
Now let’s get going!
What is a DOM?
The Document Object Model (DOM) is a programming interface for web documents. It represents the structure of HTML and XML documents as a tree-like model where each node represents a part of the document, such as elements, attributes, and text. The DOM provides a way for programs to dynamically access and manipulate the content, structure, and style of web pages.
With the DOM, developers can write scripts that interact with the content of web pages, enabling dynamic changes without needing to reload the entire page. This capability is fundamental to modern web development, allowing for interactive and responsive user experiences.
Developers can use programming languages like JavaScript to traverse the DOM tree, locate specific elements, modify their attributes, or add new elements dynamically. This enables tasks such as updating content based on user input, animating elements, or dynamically loading new data without requiring a full-page refresh.
In essence, the DOM serves as an interface between web content and scripts, enabling dynamic web applications and rich user experiences on the internet. It is a core technology for web development and is supported by all major web browsers.
DOM, to put it simply, is the structure of objects that the browser creates each time a webpage loads.
Important terms:
- Nodes: In the DOM, every element or tag is referred to as a node or leaf.
- Depth: The number of elements within a DOM branch.
- junior component: the final node to stop branching out.
What Does the Warning “Avoid an Excessive DOM Size” Mean?
A notice or suggestion from web development tools or frameworks is usually indicated by the warning “Avoid an Excessive DOM Size“. It indicates that the Document Object Model (DOM) of a webpage has grown excessively huge or complex, which may cause the user’s browsing experience to lag or perform poorly.
One indicator of performance from website auditing tools like Google’s Lighthouse is the “Avoid an Excessive DOM Size” warning. It suggests that there are too many nodes in the Document Object Model (DOM) of a webpage. Performance on the website may suffer as a result.
What browsers utilize to render a webpage is called a DOM (dynamic HTML markup language). It is made up of nodes, which are text and tag components in HTML. “Excessive DOM Size” refers to a DOM with an excessive number of nodes.
Less than 1,500 DOM nodes are often advised for a page to preserve optimum performance. Less than 32 nested layers should be the minimum depth of the DOM. As a result, the DOM becomes less complex.
Additionally, it’s best to stay away from parent nodes that have more than 60 child nodes. This keeps any one node from become overly complicated. By following these guidelines, the “Excessive DOM Size” warning may be avoided.
A large DOM size can impact the rendering and interaction performance of a webpage, especially on devices with limited processing power or memory. It can result in slower page load times, sluggish scrolling, and unresponsive user interfaces.
To address this warning, developers can optimize their code by reducing unnecessary elements, simplifying the structure of the webpage, and minimizing the use of JavaScript operations that manipulate the DOM excessively. By doing so, they can improve the performance and responsiveness of their web applications for users.
How Do Site Speed and User Experience Affect a Large DOM?
Site performance is largely dependent on user experience and site speed, particularly when working with huge Document Object Models (DOM). All of a webpage’s components, including text, pictures, and scripts, are represented by the Document Object Model (DOM).
First, user experience is directly impacted by site speed. A website that loads slowly irritates users and frequently results in high bounce rates. Large DOMs need the browser to parse and render more elements, which can cause loading times to increase significantly. Website loading speed is expected by users, and any delay may cost them interest and conversions.
The user experience is directly impacted by website performance, making it extremely important.
A website that performs well loads rapidly, reacts to user inputs swiftly and offers a seamless surfing experience. In a time when users have high standards for digital experiences, this is especially important.
However, slow website performance might result in unresponsive interfaces and extended load times. Frustrating user experiences based on by these problems may result in lower user engagement and higher bounce rates.
In the end, poor performance may result in a decline in sales or conversions. Thus, any website’s success depends on maintaining optimal website performance, which includes controlling DOM size.
It is impossible to overestimate how much a huge DOM affects user experience and site speed. To enhance loading speeds and guarantee a flawless user experience, website owners and developers must place a high priority on performance optimization.
This includes reducing DOM size, optimizing code, and leveraging strategies like lazy loading. Websites can better engage visitors and accomplish their goals by taking care of these variables.
How to Fix the Avoid an Excessive DOM Size? Step-by-Step Guide
A large Document Object Model (DOM) can hurt the usability and performance of a website in web development. A web page’s structure is represented by the Document Object Model (DOM) as a tree of objects.
An excessively big DOM can cause browser crashes, slower page rendering, and increased memory usage. Thankfully, there are several actions you may take to deal with and avoid this problem.
We’ll offer a thorough how-to on fixing and preventing an excessive DOM size in my current piece.
1: Avoid Poorly Coded Plugins and Themes:
One of the primary causes of an excessive DOM size is poorly coded plugins and themes. These can introduce unnecessary HTML elements, JavaScript, and CSS into your web pages, bloating the DOM.
To fix this issue, carefully review and select plugins and themes from reputable sources that prioritize efficiency and performance. Regularly update these components to ensure they are optimized and free from excessive code.
They will essentially bloat the code of your website, increase the size of your DOM, and negatively impact the speed and functionality of your website.
How can you determine whether a theme or plugin has bad coding?
Wonderful query. Additionally, the response is:
- Go through the reviews: If there are problems, someone has probably already noticed them and commented.
- Don’t be afraid to make some purchases: You indeed get what you pay for in life. Obtaining a free theme or plugin may seem like a terrific way to save money, but the long-term consequences will end up costing you far more.
- Verify the most recent update date: Stay away from outdated plugins and themes.
They will bloat your code and include a ton of settings that you’ll never use. Once more, they’re excellent for a test drive, but they frequently function poorly and could be really problematic.
Never use a cracked version of a theme that you paid for since it may contain dangerous code that could damage your website.
2: Minimize JavaScript-based DOM Nodes:
JavaScript is often used to dynamically manipulate the DOM, but excessive use can lead to a bloated DOM size. To minimize JavaScript-based DOM nodes, focus on efficient coding practices such as using event delegation, avoiding unnecessary DOM manipulation, and optimizing loops and functions.
Additionally, consider using modern JavaScript frameworks like React or Vue.js, which offer virtual DOM implementations to optimize rendering performance.
You pay for the risk of having your website bloated with unnecessary JavaScript nodes when you add dynamic elements.
3: Page Builders that Generate Bloated HTML:
Many popular page builders offer drag-and-drop interfaces for building websites, but some generate bloated HTML code with excessive DOM elements. To address this issue, choose a page builder that generates lean and efficient HTML code.
Alternatively, consider hand-coding your website using clean and semantic HTML to maintain full control over the DOM structure and avoid unnecessary bloat.
Because they are so user-friendly, many people consider page builders to be essential to the process of creating a website.
Regretfully, excessively complex code with a high number of DOM nodes can occasionally be generated by page builders. It’s being accomplished by them by over-injecting div tags.
You can access your HTML and manually correct it to deal with it.
Fortunately, there are page builders that address these common problems. For example, Elementor has said that major DOM changes are included in Elementor 3.0 to improve the speed and functionality of new websites.
4: Don’t Copy/Paste Text into the WYSIWYG Editor:
When copying and pasting text into a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, it often includes unnecessary formatting and styling code, which can contribute to DOM bloat. Instead, paste text into a plain text editor first to strip away any formatting, then manually apply styling using CSS to maintain a leaner DOM structure.
The majority of WYSIWYG editors are not very good at removing copied code. particularly when copied from Microsoft Word or another rich text source. The problem is that it will replicate not just the text but also the styles. And because they may embed numerous DOM nodes, they are the primary offender.
You can handle it in one of two ways:
- Don’t paste the text into your editor.
- Use the option to Paste as Plain Text.
- Once the code has been pasted, use the advanced features to tidy it up (if your editor permits).
Finally, but just as importantly, go back to your earlier pages and tidy them up.
5: Break Down Your One-Page Website into Multiple Pages:
One-page websites, while trendy, can quickly lead to an excessive DOM size as all content is loaded onto a single page. To mitigate this issue, consider breaking down your website into multiple pages, each focused on a specific topic or function.
This not only improves performance by reducing the amount of content loaded at once but also allows for better organization and navigation.
When a single page serves as your company’s presentation, it’s a terrific concept.
On the other hand, create different pages for any company information, blog posts, merchandise, contact forms, etc., and connect them via the navigation menu.
DOM node count could be decreased by dividing huge pages into several pages.
6: Don’t Hide Unwanted Elements Using display: none:
While the CSS property display: none can hide elements from view, it does not remove them from the DOM, contributing to DOM bloat.
Instead, consider using techniques such as CSS classes or JavaScript to dynamically add or remove elements from the DOM when needed. This ensures a cleaner DOM structure and better performance.
display: none is widely used with JavaScript to hide and show elements without destroying and recreating them. That does not, however, imply that they remove from your HTML markup and prevent visitors from loading additional components.
7: Avoid Using Complicated CSS Declarations and JavaScript:
Complex CSS declarations and JavaScript code can increase the size of the DOM by adding unnecessary styling rules and event handlers. To avoid this, strive for simplicity in your code by using efficient CSS selectors, minimizing inline styles, and optimizing JavaScript functions.
Consider using tools like CSS preprocessors (e.g., Sass or Less) and JavaScript minifiers to streamline your code and reduce its footprint.
An excessive DOM size can negatively impact the performance and user experience of a website. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can effectively address and prevent this issue, ensuring your website remains fast, efficient, and user-friendly.
By prioritizing clean and optimized code, you can create a leaner DOM structure that enhances performance and delivers a seamless browsing experience for your users.
Conclusion
And that’s it, dear! You’ve just learned how to troubleshoot WordPress’ “Avoid Excessive DOM Size” warning. You’ve made great progress toward improving the UX and website of your business, from realizing the issue to putting the remedies into practice.
Indeed, your PageSpeed Insights ratings will not increase if you fix your DOM issues.
Still, there are even bigger unintended advantages to taking the time to address the “avoid an excessive DOM size” warning:
- Make your website load faster
- Boost the perceived performance of your page.
- Improve the user experience for visitors
Most importantly, Google has rewarded these three actions! They also work wonders to raise the average time spent, lower bounce rates, and, most importantly, enhance conversions.
Keep in mind that every optimization-related action you do makes your website faster, more responsive, and easier to use. Thus, remember these pointers as you go with your web development endeavors.
Kindly leave your questions in the comments section.
FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions)
1: What is DOM size, and why is it important to avoid excessive DOM size?
The Document Object Model (DOM) is a programming interface for web documents. It represents the structure of HTML or XML documents as a tree-like structure where each node represents an object in the document. DOM size refers to the number of elements, nodes, and their complexity within this tree structure.
Excessive DOM size can significantly impact the performance of a web page, leading to slower load times, increased memory consumption, and decreased responsiveness. It can also affect the user experience, especially on devices with limited resources or slower internet connections.
2: How does excessive DOM size affect website performance?
Excessive DOM size can negatively impact website performance in several ways:
- Slower load times: Browsers need to parse and render the entire DOM before displaying the webpage, so a larger DOM size requires more time for processing.
- Increased memory consumption: Each DOM element consumes memory, and a larger DOM size means more memory usage, which can lead to slower performance, especially on devices with limited RAM.
- Reduced responsiveness: Manipulating or interacting with elements in a large DOM tree can become slower and less responsive, causing delays in user interactions such as clicking buttons or scrolling.
- Poor SEO performance: Search engines may have difficulty crawling and indexing web pages with excessively large DOM sizes, potentially affecting a site’s search engine ranking.
3: How can I measure the DOM size of my web page?
There are several tools and techniques available to measure the DOM size of a web page:
- Browser Developer Tools: Most modern web browsers come with built-in developer tools that include features for inspecting the DOM. You can use these tools to view the DOM tree and analyze its size.
- JavaScript: You can use JavaScript code to programmatically traverse the DOM tree and count the number of elements, nodes, and their attributes.
- Performance Monitoring Tools: There are various third-party performance monitoring tools available that can analyze the DOM size as part of overall page performance metrics.
4: How can I reduce DOM size and optimize performance?
To reduce DOM size and optimize performance, consider the following strategies:
- Minimize HTML: Remove unnecessary or redundant HTML elements and attributes. Simplify the structure of your web page to eliminate complexity.
- Use CSS for styling: Utilize CSS for styling and layout instead of inline styles or excessive use of HTML attributes. External CSS files can be cached by the browser, reducing the need for repetitive styling information in the DOM.
- Lazy Loading: Implement lazy loading for images, scripts, and other resources to defer the loading of non-critical elements until they are needed, reducing initial DOM size.
- Limit JavaScript usage: Minimize the use of JavaScript libraries and frameworks, especially those that dynamically generate or manipulate DOM elements excessively. Opt for lighter alternatives or optimize existing code for better performance.
5: Are there any best practices for maintaining an optimal DOM size?
Yes, several best practices can help maintain an optimal DOM size and improve overall website performance:
- Regular Monitoring: Continuously monitor and analyze the DOM size of your web pages using developer tools or performance monitoring tools. Identify areas for optimization and address them promptly.
- Code Reviews: Conduct regular code reviews to identify and refactor any code that contributes to excessive DOM size. Encourage developers to follow best practices and guidelines for writing efficient HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code.
- Performance Budgets: Establish performance budgets that include thresholds for DOM size, and ensure that new features or changes to the website adhere to these budgets. This helps prevent regressions in performance over time.
- Browser Compatibility: Test your website across different browsers and devices to ensure that it performs well and maintains an optimal DOM size under various conditions.
By following these best practices and optimizing your web pages for a reasonable DOM size, you can enhance the performance, usability, and accessibility of your website for all users.