Introducing GTmetrix: Free site speed tool from Canada's best hosting company.

I know, I know: the Web is going crazy about Google Buzz and Google's new experimental fiber network... but this just came in from from the fine folks at Gossamer Threads in Vancouver and it deserves some attention too:

As part of our managed hosting service, we are often working with sites of all sizes to optimize speed. We look at everything from the hardware with faster processors or more ram to the software with analyzing and optimizing code. The web should be fast!

How your site is structured is equally important and often overlooked! Google PageSpeed and Yahoo YSlow are developer tools built for just this purpose. We've taken these tools and made it really easy to see and track how your site is performing as well as offering easy tips for speeding up your site.

It's completely free and you can try it out here: http://gtmetrix.com/

Not only will it help make your site feel faster to your users, but there are indications that your Google Page Speed score may be a factor in search engine rankings in 2010.

I've been recommending Gossamer Threads for over three years now (I wish I'd known about them before!) to organizations that have serious Web site hosting requirements -- their service and support is unparalleled. With the release of their new Web site speed testing suite -- GTmetrix -- my only hope is that they don't get too popular!