Having a website is necessary for businesses to thrive in this digital age. But is it enough? No. Being a business owner, you also need to focus on the website speed, or else users will turn off your site.
A slow-loading website will increase bounce rates and low search engine performance. This is something not at all desirable under any circumstances. Nowadays, most websites are built on WordPress, and this is why WordPress performance optimization is so important.
This blog gives a comprehensive idea of the tactics that you can implement to maximize WordPress speed. Before delving into the details and intricacies, let’s learn why speed optimization is necessary.
Common Reasons for Speed Optimization
- Excellent User Experience: It won’t be an exaggeration to state that the average human attention span has decreased significantly. Every user wants a website to load fast, but if that’s not the case, they get frustrated and leave the site. A fast loading website always leaves a positive impression on users.
- Impacts SEO rankings: While creating a website, WordPress developers not only focus on the ‘speed’ element, but they are also concerned about SEO. Google prioritizes sites that load fast while impacting their rankings. If a website ranks higher, it will also experience a growth in organic traffic, which is important for businesses, irrespective of their size and industry.
- Curbs Bounce Rates: When a website loads fast, users get a positive vibe, and they are inclined to stay on the page. In this instance, they are likely to explore the offerings and go through the content that addresses their queries.
- Boosts Conversion Rates: If more users visit your site and, at the same time, stay on the site for quite a while, their chances of conversions will automatically increase.
What’s Slowing Your Website?
A site can slow down for these reasons:
- High-resolution or unoptimized images
- Installing poorly coded or resource-intensive plugins
- Running outdated plugin versions
- Improper code execution
- Embedding content from external sources
- Third-party ads
- A large amount of content on a page
Which Tools Should You Use to Measure WordPress Speed
Before optimizing, test your website speed using tools like:
- Google PageSpeed Insights (https://pagespeed.web.dev/)
- GTmetrix (https://gtmetrix.com/)
- Pingdom (https://tools.pingdom.com/)
- WebPageTest (https://www.webpagetest.org/)
Analyze the results to identify elements slowing down your site.
How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site
Well, it’s a million-dollar question as every website owner looks for ways to enhance their WordPress site’s performance and speed. There are several tactics to do so. If you are eager to learn these strategies, have a look:
Select a Powerful Hosting
It’s advisable to choose a good WordPress hosting service to enhance your website performance. You will come across multiple options, but choosing the right one will make all the difference. By hiring WordPress developers, you can determine whether the hosting provider implements robust measures to optimize your website and offers excellent customer support.
Best Hosting Options to Optimize WordPress Speed
- Managed WordPress Hosting (e.g., WP Engine, Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, Kinsta)— It is best for performance.
- VPS Hosting (e.g., DreamHost, GoDaddy, Liquid Web, ScalaHosting)— This hosting type gives more control and resources.
- Dedicated Hosting (e.g., Ionos, Accu Web Hosting, InMotion Hosting)—They are perfect for large-scale websites requiring maximum speed.
Use a Cache Plugin
The function of a caching plugin is to generate static HTML pages for your site. It saves these pages on your server. When a user intends to access your site, the caching plugin doesn’t display the heavier WordPress PHP scripts but the lighter HTML page.
Recommended Caching Plugins
- WP Rocket: It’s suitable for all-in-one caching with user-friendly settings.
- W3 Total Cache: This is the best option for advanced caching and CDN integration.
- WP Super Cache: Beginners needing simple caching can go with this opinion.
- LiteSpeed Cache: It’s good for LiteSpeed server users.
Image Optimization
Including images is necessary in the content since they play a great hand in boosting engagement. However, there is also a downside that you should take into account. If the images aren’t optimized, your website will suffer from speed issues. Though high-resolution images look better, they consume bandwidth and affect page speed. Before uploading a photo, make sure to use an editing software to optimize it and decrease its size.
Techniques for Image Optimization
- You should use WebP format instead of JPEG/PNG for smaller file sizes.
- Use plugins like ShortPixel, Smush, or Imagify to compress images.
- Enable easy loading to load images only when users scroll to them.
Choose the Right Theme
A good thing about building a website on WordPress is that you get numerous themes from which to choose. Most website owners focus on aesthetics and functionality when it comes to selecting a WordPress theme. There is also another aspect that is often ignored—speed.
Certain themes are a good choice to speed up WordPress websites, and you can go with these themes to get the desired outcomes. You may be tempted to choose a theme with excessive features, animations, and bloated code, but that will only slow down your site.
Best Fast-Loading WordPress Themes:
- Astra – If you prefer a minimalistic theme that is also highly optimized, Astra will be your call.
- GeneratePress – Looking for a performance-focused theme with clean coding? If so, choose GeneratePress without considering further options.
- Neve – This theme is lightweight, fast, mobile-friendly, and SEO-optimized. With this theme in place, you can create customizable designs and a responsive layout.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
When your target audience is distributed across every corner of the globe, it makes more sense to use a CDN. With a CDN, you can host the site closer to the end-user. CDN stores static files by creating a network of servers, which leads to faster loading times in various scenarios. If you are willing to sell your products/services at an international level, using a CDN is a good approach.
Top CDN Services
- Cloudflare
- StackPath
- KeyCDN
- Cachefly
- Fastly
Eliminate Third-Party Scripts
Your website’s loading time will be affected if you stream videos and widgets from external sources. Usually, these sources include YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, and Vimeo. Since the content of your site is pulled in from an external source, your website has to wait for that platform to finish loading. After that happens, your site’s page will be fully loaded.
How to Remove Third-Party Script Load
- Use only necessary analytics (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel) and eliminate all unnecessary tracking codes.
- You should download and serve the fonts from your server instead of loading them externally.
- Don’t embed YouTube videos, social media feeds, or third-party comment systems.
Minify and Combine CSS, JavaScript, and HTML Files
If there are unnecessary characters in code files, your website will load slowly. So, how to address this problem? The answer is ‘Minification.’ With this technique, you can remove extra characters from code files. A major benefit of this approach is that it makes the website lighter and increases its speed.
Plugins to Use
- Autoptimize: This plugin option minifies and combines JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.
- Fast Velocity Minify: By incorporating this plugin, website owners can optimize scripts and reduce HTTP requests.
Using Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals (CWVs) refer to a set of metrics that assess how well a website performs for users. Google uses these parameters to rank web pages in search results.
Techniques for WordPress Optimization Using Core Web Vitals
Site owners can optimize WordPress using Core Web Vitals by adopting the following strategies:
- Improving Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): It’s all about optimizing images, enabling caching, and using a fast hosting provider.
- Minimising First Delay Input (FID): You can reduce FID by minifying JavaScipt, eliminating render-blocking scripts, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
- Improving Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): You should set proper dimensions for images, ads, and preload fonts.
Update Your WordPress Themes and Plugins
Though most site owners don’t pay heed to this approach, it holds high relevance. If you use outdated software, you are at risk of security breaches along with slow WordPress website speed and its poor performance. With regular updates of your WordPress themes and plugins, you can reap the benefits of improved performance and better compatibility.
Recommended Practices for Updates
- Always update WordPress to the latest version.
- It’s better to update your themes and plugins frequently to avoid slowdowns.
- Ensure that unused plugins and themes are removed to minimize website bloat.
FAQs
1. Is website speed important for WordPress?
Yes, website speed is crucial for WordPress as it impacts user experience, server performance, SEO rankings, and conversion rates. If a website is slow, the bounce rate is likely to increase.
2. What are the main causes of a slow WordPress website?
Your WordPress website can become sluggish due to the following reasons:
a. Poor hosting
b. Unoptimized image
c. Excessive plugins
d. Bloated themes
e. Too many third-party scripts
3. What tactics should I implement to enhance WordPress speed?
To increase the speed of your WordPress website, you can adopt the
following strategies:
a. Image optimization
b. Use a cache plugin
c. Select a fast theme
d. Remove third-party scripts
Update your WordPress themes and plugins
4. How to optimize images for a faster WordPress site?
You can optimize images by using WebP format instead of JPEG/PNG if the file size is smaller. Using plugins like Imagify or Smush for image compression will also come in handy.
5. Which WordPress themes should I use to maximize website speed?
It’s always recommended to use lightweight themes like Astra, GeneratePress, or Neve for optimum website speed.
Final Words
For your website to provide a seamless user experience, its loading time should be fast. Website speed optimization will also help your business to improve SEO rankings and increase conversions. By incorporating the above practices, you can improve your site’s performance significantly. At the same time, users will also experience a faster, smoother, and more efficient website.
