How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a freelance copywriter or virtual assistant yourself. If so, you know that being “on-demand” is the name of the game these days. But what does that mean for your WordPress site? How can you make it perform at its best? Here are some tips on speeding up your WordPress site so that you can get more work done while spending less time worrying about performance.
Find The Slowest Link
“Slowest link” is a term used by webmasters and SEOs (Search Engine Optimizers) to identify the page or blog post that’s causing your site performance to tank. This could be because it has too many images, is a bit long, or even requires a lot of javascript to work.
Now is the time to determine which of those pages or posts is the biggie and then find a way to fix it. Sometimes the simplest change can make a world of difference and give you a significant boost in performance. For example, if you’re using a lot of JavaScript to power your site, then minimising the amount of JavaScript used will increase your performance and make your site faster.
Fixing the Slowest Link is one of the most effective ways of increasing the speed of your WordPress site. Simply take a look at your web analytics and see which pages are draining the most bandwidth. Once you’ve identified the problem, you can start to reduce the time it takes to load those pages by tweaking their content or code. If you’ve got a slow-loading post about your own company, for example, you may want to consider removing some of the unnecessary text and images and replacing them with text that’s easy to understand.
Cache Everything
Caching is the process of storing previously-requested content, usually in a temporary location on your website so that it can be served quickly to users next time they visit. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve created a blog post about fashion and you want to make sure that when a person comes back to your website, they see the latest post about fashion immediately. If you’ve never done this, you might be wondering how to cache content on your WordPress site. Thankfully, this is a very simple process and you can literally “booster” your site’s performance just by doing this.
If you’re using WordPress, simply go to your dashboard and click on the plugin icon next to “Online Store.” This will bring you to the “Online Store” window where you can choose which of your products to show and which to hide (if any) from the public.
From here, you can control which products show up in your blog’s front page (usually the first page that users see when they visit your site) and in each individual post. What’s great about this plugin is that it not only caches your blog posts but also your WooCommerce store so that when a user visits your site, they see your latest products immediately.
Reduce The Number Of Plugins You’re Using
Every WordPress site, even a well-designed and optimised one, has about a dozen plugins running in the background. These are small applications, usually around a few megabytes, that interact with your content and add new features to your site. Some examples of plugins are Hello Fresh, WooCommerce, and Akismet.
While there’s nothing wrong with any of these plugins, the fact is that they all do the same thing and using more than one of them won’t make your site any faster. For example, if you’re using Hello Fresh to power your blog’s recipes, you don’t need to be using WooCommerce as well. With a little bit of research, you can determine which plugins are essential and which ones you can do without. Hello Fresh and Akismet, for example, are pretty self-explanatory and useful on a daily basis. WooCommerce is not.
Use A Fast, Optimised Browser
Your web browser is an essential part of your website and, for the most part, you won’t be able to pull data off of a website without loading it up in a web browser first. That being said, not all web browsers are created equal and it’s important to pick one that’s both fast and functional.
The best internet browsers are those created by Google, such as Chrome, Opera, and Safari. These browsers are known for their speed and functionality, making them perfect for the task. If you currently use an older browser that doesn’t have all of the features available in the more recent versions of Chrome, Opera, and Safari, then it’s time for an upgrade and you should definitely consider upgrading your internet browser.
Even if you’ve got the best internet browser available, it won’t do you any good if the plugins and apps you need to use it aren’t available on your phone. Luckily, the majority of the plugins and apps you need to use are available for Android and iOS and you can download them directly to your phone’s storage.
Minify CSS And Javascript
There’s no question that in this day and age, more and more people are relying on their web browsers to access content online. As a result, the amount of data that’s being transferred each time someone visits your site has dramatically increased. Sadly, the process of loading all of that content isn’t pleasant for the end user and, for that matter, it could be slow for your server as well.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to prevent this from happening. The best web browsers, as mentioned above, are quick to load and don’t take up a lot of bandwidth. That being said, they also don’t always render web pages as beautifully as other browsers do. For that reason, people who use less-than-perfect browsers will often turn off certain CSS and Javascript because they think it will make the internet experience worse (especially on mobile devices).
If you’re using WordPress, you can go to your dashboard and click on the “online store” tab to bring you to your WordPress store’s settings. Here, you can change your site’s CSS and Javascript so that it loads faster for both you and your users. Simply click on the button that says “Optimise CSS” and select “Minify.” To do the same with Javascript, click on the button that says “Optimise JS” and then select “Minify.”
Use CDN (Content Delivery Network)
Speaking of mobile users, many of those users won’t have the luxury of a fast internet connection and, for that matter, might even be on the move when they visit your site. For that reason, it’s vital that the content on your site is easy to access and quick to load. A great way of doing this is by using a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
A CDN is a network of servers, usually located close to your site’s visitors, that store copies of your site’s content. Using a third-party service like Cloudflare, you can create an account and get the CDN quickly and easily.
What’s great about using a CDN is that the content will load quickly for your visitors, regardless of their internet connection or where they are in the world. Additionally, the content is free so you’re not breaking the bank.
Use A Performance Bundle
A performance bundle is a collection of tools and resources designed to fasten the load time of your site. The best performance bundles are built by a team of experts and contain all of the tools you might need to dramatically improve your site’s speed.
If you’re serious about speeding up your WordPress site, then it pays to invest in a performance bundle. The best performance bundles make using WordPress exceptionally easy. Simply navigate to your dashboard and click on the “online store” tab. Here, you can choose which products you want to show and which ones you want to hide from the public. Keep in mind, however, that certain plugins and devices can make your site slower.
From here, you can control which products show up in your blog’s front page (usually the first page that users see when they visit your site) and in each individual post. What’s great about this plugin is that it not only caches your blog posts but also your WooCommerce store so that when a user visits your site, they see your latest products immediately.
Reduce The Size Of Your Images
Unless you’re planning on plastering your site with images, then you’re probably wondering how to reduce the size of your images without actually compromising on quality. The truth is, large images aren’t always a bad thing and you might want to consider making your images a little larger than usual to create a more immersive experience for your users.