When the 2009 Google research revealed that ‘speed’ matters the most in internet browsing, it didn’t come as a surprise at all. Online visitors are usually averse to slow websites, and often prefer switching to faster websites for business.

Nothing sabotages an online business faster than a slow website. Performance is the core ingredient of any successful website, and it can be affected by many factors, ranging from poor network to unoptimized website code.

Why should you speed up WordPress site?

WordPress is a commonly used CMS for websites. It supports plugins for various tasks, ranging from SEO to security. But as the traffic on the website increases, the site loading time also increases because of all the scripts and plugins.

So, if your WordPress sites take > 2 secs to load, chances that the visitors abandon your site is very high. Inorder to garner more visitors and stay ahead of your competitors, it is crucial to speed up Wordpress site.

[ Running a hosting business doesn’t have to be hard, or costly. Get world class Hosting Support Specialists at $9.99/hour (bulk discounts available) ]

How to speed up WordPress site

Choosing a reliable and high-speed hosting provider is the basic requirement to host a fast website, but its not the only thing that matters. Caution has to be exercised while customizing your WordPress or adding plugins to it.

You can test your website speed using a tool like Pingdom. Here we’ll see the vital points that you need to do to tweak your WordPress site for maximum speed.

1. Update to latest WordPress version

Software vendors often release new versions that include better features and more security patches that were left out in their previous versions. To keep your website secure and updated, always upgrade to the latest version of WordPress.

The latest versions are released with more advantageous features to overcome the drawbacks of the previous versions. So, when you get a notification in the admin panel that “An updated version of wordpress is available”, don’t miss it !!!

WordPress update notification

2. Optimize the plugins

Many website owners go ahead and install many plugins, to get more features for their WordPress. While some plugins help to improve WordPress performance, some others can pull your site down.

It is therefore important that you install only the necessary plugins that will help to improve the performance of the website and disable the ones that hamper with the website performance.

Audit WordPress plugins

WordPress plugins have to be audited by deactivating them all and then activating them one by one, and testing the performance and speed. Optimize all the plugins and validate that they are coded efficiently.

3. Light theme for the site

Many website owners are tempted to install visually appealing themes for their websites to attract visitors. But if these themes are loaded with complex layouts, animations and effects, they can shoo away the visitors.

It’s always better to go with a simpler theme or custom themes with an optimized code, than using flashy themes than can cause extra load to the server with unoptimized queries.

Plugins such as WP Offload helps to improve the performance of your site by offloading static content like images, documents and movies. This will reduce the number of HTTP requests to your web server, also bandwidth consumption.

4. Image optimization

Many websites have catchy and informative images to lure the visitors. But these images can end up causing damage, if not re-sized or compressed properly. Broken images cause the sites to lose their charm.

Reducing image size will help to reduce the download time and bandwidth. Delete unnecessary image files and try to replace some images with text.

Do ensure that all the image files are optimized. Always compress the image files appropriately and choose correct format type for the image. WP Smushit plugin can also be used for reducing image file size.

In addition to compression, setting expiry time for static images can reduce the number of webserver requests that come in while loading the pages in the site. This eventually helps to speed up the site.

[ You don’t have to lose your sleep to keep your customers happy. Our Hosting Support Specialists cover your servers and support your customers 24/7 at just $9.99/hour. ]