Are you looking for ways to speed up your WordPress website? Here are 7 techniques that can be of great help to you. In this article, we’ll share 7 top techniques that are relevant for speed optimization in WordPress websites.
When the digital competition is growing at a rapid pace, the page loading speed for websites is of paramount importance. Any brand trying to maintain a powerful online presence or carry out a successful digital marketing campaign must ensure that their website loads quickly for all users.
Websites that take too long to load suffer from high bounce rates. Most users are pretty impatient and simply go to a different website instead of waiting. Now, if you own a WordPress website, there are ways to optimize its speed and help the website load faster.
How can you optimize the loading speed for a WordPress website?
With WordPress being one of the most website-building tools, over 500 new WordPress sites go live daily. Essentially, the popularity of WordPress has led to extensive research into how one can optimize page speed for WordPress sites.
Choosing a reputed WordPress web design services provider can help you. Seven of the most relevant techniques that professionals use to optimize speed are:
1. Image optimization: WordPress speed optimization techniques
While it is extremely important to add images to make the website engaging, large files consume more data. This, in turn, makes the website take longer loading times. However, it is possible to add enough image files while keeping the page lightweight. You can easily lower down the size of the image files using various tools.
2. Updating plugins
One prime feature of WordPress is that it allows users to install various plugins into the web pages for added functional value. Plugins can be an excellent addition to any website, as long as they do not slow it down.
Contrary to a common misconception, it’s usually not the number of plugins on a website that has a major impact on its loading speed. Factors like duplicate plugins, plugins running on outdated software, or poorly designed plugins contribute to slow speeds.
3. Use excerpts on the homepages and archives
By default, homepages, and archives on websites built on WordPress display the full content of the articles on homepages and archives. You might shorten them into excerpts, such that the users can expand them to read the full article if interested.
Displaying excerpts instead of full articles would help to load the page faster. It would also lower the bounce rates as the users would be less likely to leave because they feel bore reading articles they do not need.
4. Choose a fast-loading theme: WordPress speed optimization techniques
You can customize your WordPress website to an unbelievable extent. One of the main features that enable such customization is the availability of numerous themes. However, remember that choosing themes only based on their styles and looks isn’t the best way to go about it.
Themes that are complex in design take too long to load and can slow down the website. It would help to choose a theme that is simple but looks aesthetically pleasing.
5. Enable a caching plugin
One of the simplest ways to ensure a fast loading speed is to ensure that the users’ devices do not have to download its contents on every visit. You can enable website caching by installing a plugin for it. Thus, the website would send a cached version to the users, which their browsers would store. The next time they visit the website, the browser can quickly load the pages from the cached information rather than downloading everything all over again.
6. Take a mobile-first approach: WordPress speed optimization techniques
A website that loads quickly on computers may take much longer on mobile phones. It is logical to design your website especially to ensure fast speed on mobile phones. You would want to remember that most of the visitors would be using smartphones to access and use the website. You certainly wouldn’t want to lose such a large audience. To be mobile-friendly, a website must load fast on a majority of smartphone browsers.
7. Use a content delivery network (CDN)
The users visiting your website may be doing so from different locations around the world. This can be a significant factor affecting the loading speed of your website on their devices. So, a great way to get around this problem would be to use a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
A CDN would store a copy of your website in multiple data centers across the world. When a visitor accesses the website, the CDN sends the website date from the nearest data center. A good CDN service can significantly reduce the loading time.
Conclusion
Investing some time, effort using WordPress speed optimization techniques, and money into optimizing the speed of your WordPress website would undoubtedly pay off. It would increase customer engagement and help to lower bounce rates. Moreover, this, in turn, would result in higher sales. Leading web-design companies always consider loading speed as one of the most important factors while building a website.
The post 7 Techniques That Are Relevant For Speed Optimization On WordPress Websites appeared first on Visualmodo.
0 Commentaires