Ten ways to speed up web surfing

Change your web browser
Many people still use Internet Explorer because it's what they have always used, but swapping to another web browser can make a difference and could open up more ways of making things faster.

Some of the latest web browsers, such as Google's Chrome, have been designed specifically for speed. They might download the page at the same speed, but with a finely tuned Javascript engine (the part of the browser that handles many on-screen effects and navigation) it will often appear faster.

Disable website adverts
Many websites have adverts that use video and animations that add to the file size of the page you are downloading to view. Firefox users can filter these files out using the Flashblock add-on: click the Tools menu, choose Add-ons, then Get Add-ons, type Flashblock in the search box, then when it appears click Add to Firefox.

With Flashblock enabled Firefox will not download or display Flash elements on the page. Instead it shows a blank space with an F in it. If this spot is an advert you can leave it alone, but if it is something you want to see, such as a video, perhaps, click the box and it will load as normally. Many pages will load much faster this way.

Use the mobile version of a site
Another way to avoid the junk on websites is to visit its mobile site, which is designed for mobile phone screens and typically has a smaller number of files to download before you can view it.

Some sites will have a link that says 'mobile version' that will display the cut-down one, but a handy trick is to replace the 'www' in a web address with the letter 'm' instead (for example http://m.bbc.co.uk or http://m.guardian.co.uk), and you will see the mobile site or instructions on how to reach it. These sites usually load in seconds.

Use an RSS reader
RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is designed to alert readers when a website has published new content. RSS sometimes lists only headlines, but other sites make entire articles available this way.

The orange RSS image icon (right) may appear on a web page, but modern web browsers such as Firefox display it in the address bar. Click it and the browser will fetch the latest version of the site's RSS feed.