WordPress is the most popular website building platform. Initially, it started as a blogging tool. However, as it began to receive more prominence, it gradually transformed into an efficient content management system and website builder. In today’s fast-paced world, every individual is after a quick result. If your website does not have a good speed, it will impact your site’s growth negatively. A slow website will lead you to lose potential customers, and it will drive away potential traffic. Hence, here are some hacks to speed up WordPress site efficiently.
The speed of your site should be one of your top priorities. Users do not like to wait for more than three seconds for a page to load. They prefer to browse sites that have a good loading speed. If your site does not meet these criteria, they will quickly ditch your site and move onto the following site. A slow website can affect your google ranking factor negatively. Fortunately, there are many ways through which you can speed up your site.
11 Simple Hacks to speed your WordPress website
If you are wondering how to speed up your WordPress site, then here are some helpful hacks.
1. Select the right hosting
The main factor behind the speed of your site is the hosting you choose. It is imperative to select the right hosting tool. It is recommended to use Bluehost, which is one of the most popular hosting platforms. It is the best WordPress plugins to speed up site, and it offers a variety of useful hosting tools such as free SSL, free domain, and more. It prevents your page from loading slowly, even when you receive a lot of traffic on your site.
Here are a few recommendations for best web hosting services –
If you are looking a cloud hosting for your business website/ecommerce/blog, then select the best cloud hosting platform like Kinsta that manage all visitors without downtime.
2. Install the best cache plugin
Installing a reliable cache plugin like WP Rocket is a great way to speed up your site. A cache plugin will help you get an insight into the final look of your website. WP Rocket is known to be the best cache plugin all around the world. It boosts the speed of your site and increases your site’s SEO rankings and conversions too. It can optimize WordPress and improve the overall performance of your site.
3. Select the best Content Delivery Network
A CDN can be convenient for speeding up your site no matter what kind of site you own. It improves the loading time of your website. Cloudflare is the best CDN service provider that enables users to increase their site’s loading speed, improve their site’s SEO ranking, and secures their site against DDoS attacks. It is effortless to install as it comes with a one-click installation.
4. Optimize Images Using a Compression Tool
Images are an essential part of enhancing your site. They make your site appear attractive, and sometimes, they can be the main factor that attracts your site. However, uploading images with a large file size can slow down your website’s loading speed. Hence, you can compress your images using a reliable compressing tool such as TinyPNG. TinyPNG employs modern compression methods to compress your images without reducing their quality. It will increase your Google ranking too.
5. Make Sure Your WordPress Site is Updated
The version of WordPress largely determines the speed of your site. You need to update your plugins and your themes at regular ensure that it does not affect your site’s performance. Make sure that you are always using the latest version of WordPress.
6. Minify JavaScript and CSS Files
You have to minify JavaScript and CSS files to accelerate the speed of your site. This will reduce the response time of your server, and your website’s loading speed will improve.
7. Use Light Weight Theme
The theme you choose is also an essential factor that determines the speed of your site. When you pick a piece, its visuals may be the guiding factor that makes you choose the particular theme. However, you should note that some themes look visually appealing, but they can slow down your site. Try not to select themes that have intricate designs and layout or too many animations. Choose the best light weight theme like Astra, Generatepress, Hello that will optimize your website’s speed.
8. Optimize Your WordPress Database
Your database is the storehouse of your WordPress site. However, it can contain a lot of data that you may not require anymore. Make sure that you remove these unnecessary data and clean your database at regular intervals.
9. Don’t Upload Self Hosted Video and Audio to WordPress
Try not to upload any video or audio to your site directly because they consume a lot of bandwidth, slowing down the website. It also affects the overall performance of your website. You can embed the audio or video files you have to upload using platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia.
10. Use Lazy Load to Improve Website Speed
Lazy Load decreases the calls your website’s server receives from a visitor’s website. Receiving a lot of calls can reduce the speed and performance of your site. Hence, using Lazy Load will reduce these calls and thereby increase the speed of your site.
11. Optimize Your WordPress site’s Homepage
Try to keep your homepage as simple as possible. This will help your users navigate the website easily and increase your site’s loading speed. Keep your website simple, and do not fill it with unnecessary elements. Try to keep it neat and organized and avoid displaying too many posts on the same page.
These are some of the best WordPress speed optimization hacks you can use to improve the speed and performance of your site.
