Are loading icons a cop-out for slow pages?

[ccRicers]

During some tests of a website I'm working on my co-workers and I realized that some pages load exceedingly slow (over 10 seconds). Our client brought up the notion of adding an icon or image to display while it's loading. I was against it, thinking that the code itself was too inefficient for the output it is supposed to produced, and that it can be refactored.

So are loading icons a bad idea for this case? This is not for ajax-related functions, but for regular HTTP requests for loading whole pages. I would rather just make the pages more efficient and bypass the icon idea. I'm also thinking that it's trickier to put these pre-loaded icons into place rather than just clean up the code.

[Belfast75]

Making the pages more efficient and load faster is always better than simply an icon. But offering an icon may at least suggest the page is doing something. The problem will still be after 10 seconds of looking at a rotating image, users may think there are issue with the page irrespective of the logo.

Consider the logo as a plaster over an open wound. Yeah it hides the wound and makes it alright to look at but its still damaged underneath.

[Dan Schulz]

I'd also redevelop the site to make it load faster. Cut down on the size and number of images, files, HTTP requests, and so forth. But if you can't do that, or don't want to give the impression that the site has stalled while you're doing that, than an icon may be the way to go.