The more HTTP requests you have on a given page, in addition to their size, the longer it is going to take for that page to load. Visitors that are left waiting for items and content to load are likely to bounce, so where do you go to understand if there is a problem? Running a quick website speed test can help to quickly identify areas in need of improvement. Minimizing requests can take some time, as it encompasses all your HTML, CSS, images, and JavaScript files that are needed to display the page. If certain requests cannot be removed, then other optimizations, like minifying and compressing CSS, HTML, images, and JavaScript or lazy loading can be carried out.
Pages that are critical to the business should be prioritized over other pages, like blogs, for example. Every second counts, so make sure your pages are tested regularly and loading within industry benchmarks. There is not any magical number of requests or request size, but organizations should try to structure their pages in a way that displays the most appropriate and critical content above-the-fold first. This may mean you have to split up your CSS files, but it will provide a better experience for the user.
