Why does my internet run slow? How to make it run faster?

[Susan Huckstra]

I have a laptop and before I was using a home computer that would often crash or run slower than a herd of Slowpokes.

I've had my laptop nearly 3 years which I figured may be a reason why it's running slow but being a girl who knows absolutely nothing about computers...I need help.

It mostly has problems loading tabs even if it's just one. If I'm on let's say YouTube and I type in the web address for Twitter it takes longer than it should to load.

After a page finally loads it's usually okay but occasionally the page won't load and I'm forced to kill it and try starting again.

I've never had problems with internet connection and usually have a strong signal when I'm in my bedroom. (Even now I have 4 bars)

On top of that I also noticed that my battery won't hold a charge longer than an hour (Used to be 3)

Are there programs that could be making my computer slower? I have Libre Office (like Microsoft Office), Skype, and Gimp downloaded. I also have COMODO Firewall.

If there is anything that could help me I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks for taking the time.