25 Tips to Increase WordPress Page Speed

Did you know that a one-second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% reduction in conversions? In a world where users expect lightning-fast websites, ensuring your WordPress site loads quickly and efficiently is crucial. In this blog post, we’ll explore 25 tips to increase page speed WordPress and provide a seamless experience for your visitors. Ready to supercharge your site? Let’s dive in!

Table of content

Short Summary

  • Optimize your WordPress website for fast loading times and improved user experience with 25 tips.
  • Assess current performance, implement caching solutions, choose the right hosting plan & optimise themes/plugins.
  • Leverage CDNs, GZIP compression & lazy loading to supercharge page speed!

Why Page Speed Matters for WordPress Websites

Imagine this: you’re browsing the web, and you come across a website that takes ages to load. Frustration creeps in, and you’re more likely to abandon the site, right? Well, you’re not alone. Slow-loading websites can lead to a significant decrease in traffic and revenue. Moreover, search engines like Google acknowledge the importance of page speed and have started penalising slower websites by pushing them down in search results.

So, what could be the reasons for your WordPress website’s slow loading times? Factors such as poor quality web hosting, lack of data caching, too many plugins, unoptimised image files, and not using a content delivery network (CDN) could be hindering your website’s performance.

Don’t let slow loading times affect your website’s success! By implementing some of the tips we’ll be discussing, such as optimising themes and plugins, implementing caching solutions, and leveraging CDNs, you can speed up your WordPress site and provide an enjoyable experience for your visitors.

Remember, a fast-loading website can almost triple your conversion rates compared to a slow-loading site. So, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and boost your WordPress performance by improving your load speed!

Assessing Your Current WordPress Site Speed

Before you can speed up your WordPress site, it’s essential to assess its current performance, including its WordPress website speed. Tools like GTmetrix, Pingdom, and Google PageSpeed Insights can help you get a better understanding of your site’s loading speed. Optimizing your site based on these test results will put you in a better position to improve your website’s performance.

One metric to keep an eye on is the Time To First Byte (TTFB), which measures website performance and is affected by the web hosting server. A low TTFB indicates that your server is efficiently executing PHP files, leading to faster loading times. HTTP status codes provide valuable information about how the server responded to your request to view the page. For instance, error code 429 indicates rate limiting (sending too many requests in a given amount of time), while error code 500 signifies an internal server error. By understanding these codes, you can address potential issues and improve your website’s performance.

Lastly, consider utilising caching solutions, such as server-level caching and third-party caching plugins, to boost your website’s performance. By implementing these techniques, you can ensure that your website is running efficiently and providing a seamless experience for your visitors.

Choosing the Right Hosting Plan

Your hosting plan plays a crucial role in your website’s performance. WordPress hosts provide a variety of hosting options for people to choose from. These include shared hosting, dedicated hosting, VPS hosting and managed WordPress hosting plans. To choose the right plan for your website, consider factors such as the type of site you have, the expected traffic, and the server location.

Managed WordPress hosting is an excellent option for those who want to enjoy automatic backups, updates, and more robust security configurations. This type of hosting plan can save you time and energy, ensuring that your website remains safe and secure.

Investing in a reputable hosting provider is essential for boosting your site’s performance. Take the time to research different hosting providers and choose one that aligns with your website’s needs and requirements.

Remember, a solid hosting plan is the foundation of a fast and reliable website. So, make sure to choose wisely and give your website the best chance to succeed!

Optimising WordPress Themes and Plugins

Your choice of theme and plugins can significantly impact your website’s performance. When selecting a theme, opt for one that is well-coded, lightweight, and optimised for speed. A fast-loading theme will ensure that your website runs smoothly and quickly. Some reputable sources for fast-loading themes include StudioPress, Hello Elementor, Themify, CSSIgniter, and Astra.

Plugins can also affect your site’s performance, so it’s essential to choose them wisely. Be smart and purposeful when selecting which plugins to use, and evaluate their performance by running speed tests before and after installation. Keeping your plugins up-to-date is crucial for maintaining your website’s performance. Enable auto-updates or update plugins manually to ensure maximum efficiency. Additionally, remove any unused plugins and themes, as they can create security risks and negatively impact your website’s performance.

By optimising your themes and plugins, you can enjoy a faster, more efficient WordPress site and provide a better user experience for your visitors on WordPress sites.

Implementing Caching Solutions

Caching is a powerful technique that can significantly boost your WordPress site speed by storing frequently accessed data in a temporary storage area on the server. This reduces the amount of work needed to generate a page view, resulting in faster loading times for web pages. One effective way to implement caching on your site is by using a WordPress caching plugin.

Server-level caching is an effective way to store frequently accessed data in a temporary storage area on the server, resulting in impressive decreases in page load time. You can also use third-party caching plugins to further improve your website’s performance.

Implementing caching solutions can help you minimise server processing time and improve your site’s speed. By leveraging caching, you can provide a faster, more enjoyable browsing experience for your users.

Image Optimisation Techniques

Images play a significant role in your website’s performance. Large images can slow down your web pages, leading to a poor user experience. Optimizing your images by compressing, resizing, and using appropriate file formats can significantly improve your website’s loading times. Tools like Photoshop and other popular editing tools can help you optimize your images for the web. Aim to keep your images under 100 KB for optimal performance. Additionally, choose the best image formats for your website, such as JPEG, PNG or WEBP to ensure smooth and quick loading times.

Another technique to speed up image loading is implementing lazy loading. Lazy loading defers the loading of non-visible content until it is actually needed, allowing for a smoother, faster browsing experience.

By optimising your images, you can significantly improve your website’s performance and provide a more enjoyable experience for your users.

Minimising and Combining CSS, JavaScript, and HTML Files

Minifying your CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files can help reduce their size, leading to faster loading times and improved site performance. Minification involves removing unnecessary characters, such as white spaces and comments, from your code.

Combining your CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files can also help improve your site’s performance by reducing the number of server requests needed to load your web pages. This can be achieved using free WordPress plugins like Autoptimize, which optimises your CSS and JavaScript files by deleting unnecessary code and shrinking the files for faster loading.

By minimising and combining your code files, you can reduce file sizes and server requests, leading to improved site performance and a better user experience.

Leveraging Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are powerful tools that can significantly improve your website’s performance by caching all of your assets (such as images, JS, and CSS) closer to your visitors and serving them quickly. CDNs consist of servers all around the world that store static files used to make up a website, ensuring that your website is delivered quickly and reliably to users no matter where they are in the world.

By leveraging CDNs, you can reduce the load on your web server and ensure that your website is delivered quickly to users worldwide. Some top-recommended CDNs for WordPress websites include Sucuri, Bunny CDN, and Cloudflare.

Implementing CDNs can help you supercharge your site speed and provide a seamless experience for your visitors, no matter where they are located.

Database Optimisation Strategies

Your WordPress database is the heart of your website, storing all of your content, settings, and user data. As your website grows, so does your database. Optimising your database by cleaning up tables, removing unnecessary data, and using efficient storage engines can help improve your site’s performance.

Removing spam comments, fake users, old drafts of content, and unwanted plugins and themes can help streamline your database, leading to better performance. Regularly cleaning up your database can help boost your site’s performance and ensure everything runs smoothly.

By optimising your database, you can ensure that your website remains fast, efficient, and enjoyable for your users.

Utilising GZIP Compression

Your WordPress database is the heart of your website, storing all of your content, settings, and user data. As your website grows, so does your database. Optimising your database by cleaning up tables, removing unnecessary data, and using efficient storage engines can help improve your site’s performance.

Removing spam comments, fake users, old drafts of content, and unwanted plugins and themes can help streamline your database, leading to better performance. Regularly cleaning up your database can help boost your site’s performance and ensure everything runs smoothly.

By optimising your database, you can ensure that your website remains fast, efficient, and enjoyable for your users.

Utilising GZIP Compression

GZIP compression is a powerful technique that can help reduce the size of your files, leading to faster download times and improved page rendering. By enabling GZIP compression on your server, you can reduce file sizes by up to 70%, making it an excellent choice for optimising your data transfers.

Most web servers support GZIP compression by default, but it’s always a good idea to double-check and ensure that it’s enabled. GZIP is an important component for website performance. If it’s not enabled, you may receive warnings and errors in popular speed testing tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.

Implementing GZIP compression can help you significantly improve your website’s performance and provide a faster, more enjoyable browsing experience for your users.

Enabling HTTP/2 Protocol

HTTP/2 is a powerful web protocol released in 2015 that significantly speeds up the delivery of websites, making your browsing experience even more enjoyable. Compared to its predecessor, HTTP/1, HTTP/2 offers much faster performance, making it a perfect choice for improving your website’s delivery.

To implement the HTTP/2 protocol, you’ll need to ensure that your web host supports it. Most WordPress hosting providers have already upgraded their servers to HTTP/2. This new protocol allows a faster website loading experience. If your host doesn’t support HTTP/2, it may be time to consider switching to a provider that does, as it can significantly improve your website’s performance.

By enabling the HTTP/2 protocol, you can enjoy faster website delivery and improved performance, providing a better experience for your users.

Reducing Server Response Time

Server response time is a key factor in your website’s performance. To reduce server response time, consider choosing a server location close to your target audience and optimising server resources. This can help improve your website’s performance, leading to faster loading times and a better user experience.

One way to optimise server resources is by monitoring your website’s performance using tools like New Relic, which can help you identify potential bottlenecks and resolve performance issues. By addressing these issues, you can ensure that your website is running efficiently and providing a seamless experience for your visitors.

Reducing server response time is crucial for ensuring that your website loads quickly and efficiently, providing an enjoyable browsing experience for your users.

Implementing Lazy Loading

GZIP compression is a powerful technique that can help reduce the size of your files, leading to faster download times and improved page rendering. By enabling GZIP compression on your server, you can reduce file sizes by up to 70%, making it an excellent choice for optimising your data transfers.

Most web servers support GZIP compression by default, but it’s always a good idea to double-check and ensure that it’s enabled. GZIP is an important component for website performance. If it’s not enabled, you may receive warnings and errors in popular speed testing tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix.

Implementing GZIP compression can help you significantly improve your website’s performance and provide a faster, more enjoyable browsing experience for your users.

Enabling HTTP/2 Protocol

HTTP/2 is a powerful web protocol released in 2015 that significantly speeds up the delivery of websites, making your browsing experience even more enjoyable. Compared to its predecessor, HTTP/1, HTTP/2 offers much faster performance, making it a perfect choice for improving your website’s delivery.

To implement the HTTP/2 protocol, you’ll need to ensure that your web host supports it. Most WordPress hosting providers have already upgraded their servers to HTTP/2. This new protocol allows a faster website loading experience. If your host doesn’t support HTTP/2, it may be time to consider switching to a provider that does, as it can significantly improve your website’s performance.

By enabling the HTTP/2 protocol, you can enjoy faster website delivery and improved performance, providing a better experience for your users.

Reducing Server Response Time

Server response time is a key factor in your website’s performance. To reduce server response time, consider choosing a server location close to your target audience and optimising server resources. This can help improve your website’s performance, leading to faster loading times and a better user experience.

One way to optimise server resources is by monitoring your website’s performance using tools like New Relic, which can help you identify potential bottlenecks and resolve performance issues. By addressing these issues, you can ensure that your website is running efficiently and providing a seamless experience for your visitors.

Reducing server response time is crucial for ensuring that your website loads quickly and efficiently, providing an enjoyable browsing experience for your users.

Implementing Lazy Loading

Lazy loading is a technique that can help improve your website’s performance by delaying the loading of non-visible content until it is actually needed. This allows for a smoother, faster browsing experience, as users only need to download the content they can actually see on their screens.

Implementing lazy loading on your WordPress site can be achieved using plugins like WP Rocket or Perfmatters, which allow you to enable lazy loading for images and other media elements. By implementing lazy loading, you can enjoy faster initial page load times and a better user experience for your visitors.

Managing Redirects Efficiently

Redirects can impact your website’s performance by increasing the number of server requests needed to load a page. To manage redirects efficiently, minimise their use and implement server-level redirects instead of plugins. Server-level redirects can be implemented using .htaccess files or by configuring the server settings to ensure maximum success.

By minimising the use of redirects and using server-level redirects, you can improve your site’s performance and provide a better user experience for your visitors. Managing redirects efficiently is crucial for maintaining your website’s performance and ensuring a seamless browsing experience for your users.

Fine-Tuning WordPress Settings

Fine tuning your WordPress settings can help improve your website’s performance. Some settings to consider include limiting post revisions, disabling pingbacks, and customising login URLs.

Post revisions can accumulate in your database and impact your site’s performance. By limiting the number of revisions stored per post or page, you can keep your database organized and efficient. Disabling pingbacks can help prevent your server from being overloaded with resources and protect your website from DDoS attacks.

By fine-tuning your WordPress settings, you can enjoy a faster, more efficient website and provide a better user experience for your visitors.

Mobile-First Optimisation

With the increasing number of users accessing websites from their mobile devices, optimising your WordPress site for mobile is essential. To ensure your site is responsive and looks great on all devices, choose a responsive theme and enable mobile caching. Optimising images for mobile devices can also help improve your site’s performance on smaller screens. Check the functionality of your site’s srcset attribute and consider implementing Google AMP for faster loading on mobile devices.

By optimising your website for mobile-first indexing, you can provide a better user experience for your visitors, no matter what device they’re using.

Utilising Browser Caching

Browser caching can help improve your website’s performance by storing static files on users’ devices, reducing server requests and improving load times. When a user visits your website, their browser stores static files like images, CSS, and JavaScript on their device, allowing for faster loading times on subsequent visits.

To utilise browser caching, ensure that your web server is set up to send the appropriate HTTP headers specifying a cache expiration time. This tells the user’s browser how long to store the static files before fetching them from the server again.

By implementing browser caching, you can improve your website’s performance and provide a faster, more enjoyable browsing experience for your users.

Monitoring Third-Party Performance

Third-party scripts and services can impact your website’s performance, so it’s essential to monitor their performance and optimize their usage. Tools like New Relic and Query Monitor can help you identify and resolve slow plugins and bottlenecks, allowing you to improve your website’s performance.

By monitoring the performance of third-party scripts and services, you can identify potential bottlenecks and optimise their usage to ensure your website runs smoothly and efficiently.

Implementing Prefetch and Preconnect Techniques

Prefetch and preconnect are resource hints and directives that can help speed up the loading of external resources, improving your website’s performance. Prefetch allows the browser to fetch resources before they are needed, while preconnect enables the browser to establish early connections before an HTTP request is made.

By implementing prefetch and preconnect techniques, you can ensure that external resources load faster and improve your site’s overall performance.

Securing Your WordPress Website

Keeping your WordPress website secure is essential for maintaining its performance. Ensure that your website’s software, themes, and plugins are up-to-date to prevent security vulnerabilities. Use strong passwords and implement security plugins like Wordfence, Sucuri, and iThemes Security to protect your website from hacks and malware.

By securing your WordPress website, you can prevent performance issues caused by security breaches and provide a safe browsing experience for your users.

Cleaning Up Media Library

Over time, your WordPress media library can become cluttered with unused images and files, impacting your website’s performance. Regularly cleaning up your media library by removing unused images and files can help free up space and improve your site’s performance.

By keeping your media library organised and free of unnecessary files, you can ensure that your website remains fast and efficient.

Optimising Comments Section

A busy comments section can impact your website’s performance, particularly if there are many comments on a single page. To optimise the comments section, consider limiting the number of comments per page and implementing pagination. This can help improve site speed by reducing the amount of content that needs to be loaded on the original page.

By optimising the comments section, you can ensure that your website loads quickly and provides an enjoyable user experience for your visitors.

Staying Up-to-Date with PHP Versions

Using the latest PHP version for your WordPress website can greatly improve its performance, security, and speed. Ensure that your hosting provider supports the latest PHP version and update your site’s PHP version accordingly.

Staying up-to-date with the latest PHP versions can help you maintain your website’s performance and provide a better user experience for your visitors.

Troubleshooting Slow Plugins and Bottlenecks

Slow plugins and bottlenecks can severely impact your website’s performance. Use tools like New Relic, Query Monitor, and error logs to identify and resolve slow plugins and bottlenecks, ensuring that your website runs smoothly and efficiently.

By troubleshooting slow plugins and addressing bottlenecks, you can ensure that your website remains fast and provides an enjoyable experience for your users.

Summary

In conclusion, optimizing your WordPress site’s speed is crucial for providing a seamless and enjoyable user experience. By following the 25 tips discussed in this blog post, you can supercharge your site, boost conversions, and maintain a strong presence in search engine rankings. Don’t let slow loading times hold you back – start optimising your WordPress site today!

Frequently asked questions

How do I increase page speed in WordPress?

To increase page speed in WordPress, consider running performance tests, choosing reliable hosting providers, updating everything, using the latest version of PHP, deleting unused plugins, installing high-quality plugins only, using a lightweight theme and optimising images.

These steps can help you improve the speed of your WordPress site. Performance tests can help you identify any issues that are slowing down your site. Reliable hosting providers can provide you with the resources you need to keep your site running smoothly. Updating everything, including WordPress, plugins, and themes, can help ensure that everything is up to date.

Why is my WordPress page extremely slow?

It looks like your WordPress page is slow due to a combination of inadequate hosting and the lack of caching or CDN. I recommend you take the necessary steps to optimise your hosting and implement caching or CDN to reduce the load on the server.

Doing this should help speed up your website significantly.

What is the best WordPress plugin for increasing page speed?

For the best performance and page loading speed, WPOptimize is the ideal WordPress plugin. It optimises the database tables, removes post revisions, transients, and eliminates spam comments to clean up the database and improve website loading time.

In addition, it will also compress images and optimise code in order to provide users with lightning-fast page loads.

What factors should I consider when selecting a hosting plan for my WordPress website?

Think about your needs in terms of storage, bandwidth, and speed when selecting a hosting plan.

When selecting a hosting plan for your WordPress website, consider the size and type of your site, the amount of traffic you expect to receive, the server location, as well as your budget.

Think about your needs in terms of storage, bandwidth, and speed when selecting a hosting plan.

When selecting a hosting plan for your WordPress website, consider the size and type of your site, the amount of traffic you expect to receive, the server location, as well as your budget.

How can I optimise my WordPress theme and plugins for better performance?

You can optimise your WordPress theme and plugins for better performance by selecting themes and plugins that are lightweight, removing the unused ones, and staying up to date with the latest updates.

Taking these steps will help ensure your WordPress site is running optimally!

You can optimise your WordPress theme and plugins for better performance by selecting themes and plugins that are lightweight, removing the unused ones, and staying up to date with the latest updates.

Taking these steps will help ensure your WordPress site is running optimally!

Neill du Toit

Neill’s appetite for anything related to technology is ever-growing. Fresh out of school, and straight into the workforce, Neill was thrown into the deep end couple years ago, having to learn terms like “SEO” and “PPC”. Thankfully he’s a sponge for information, and it wasn’t long before he was moulded into our SEM guru, and he is currently busy completing his degree in marketing management. Neill has a dream of flying a plane, and would love to travel the globe one day.

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