WordPress is an awesome platform for hosting your site, but one weakness you might have noted is that it can sometimes be slow. Of course, this happens when you have not configured your installation correctly. Not many people understand how to properly configure WordPress for speed and that is why you will note issues with many websites that are use the platform. However, there are few solutions you could try that are indeed useful to help you speed up your WordPress site.
Ultimate Guide to Speeding Up WordPress
Below are a few you could try that are also easy to implement.
1) Choose an Effective Caching Plug-in
The first thing you could try that will help you to speed up your WordPress site is installing a caching plug-in. This is basically a plug-in that saves page content when a user visits that page so when they visit again later, the files are not fetched afresh.
The site loads the cached data to allow the user to access the page faster. One of the most suitable caching plug-ins you could try for WordPress is W3 Total Cache, which is also fairly easy to use and it comes with all the good features that are required to make caching possible.
2) You need a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
All the big blogs you know rely on content delivery networks for WordPress. What this essentially does is that it compiles your static files (Javascript, CSS, HTML) and allows visitors to download them faster as they are shared through servers that are located nearest to them. The Max CDN is a good choice for speed optimization, and like other plug-ins, setting it up is fairly easy.
There are video tutorials to guide you through the process of installing the CDN. Also consider this WordPress website speed optimization service that can help you speed up your WordPress site.
3) Optimize Images
If your site uses images, this is one of the reasons it is probably slow. When not optimized properly, images will slow down the speed of your site and this could cost you conversions if you are operating a store. Therefore, it is advisable to consider optimizing all images on your site so they are interpreted by browsers easily.
For this, you don’t need any programming knowledge as you could also use a plug-in that does the work for you automatically. One of the plug-ins that is suitable for this is the WP-SmushIt, and the benefit is that it optimizes your images automatically as you upload them. In fact this is one of the solutions I would encourage you to try.
4) Turn off Trackbacks and Pingbacks
WordPress by default connects to other blogs that have trackbacks and pingbacks. So, each time your blog is mentioned, your site is notified, and this in turn means your database is updated with the data. This process could slow down your site if you are mentioned across many networks, maybe due to great content you are publishing.
However, you have to be careful when turning this option off as you may lose backlinks. I would suggest you work with someone who can optimize the site for you, most probably an expert in WordPress.
5) Get a Solid Theme/Framework
The theme you choose has a lot of impact on the speed of your WordPress site. This is one of the decisions you have to get right as failure to choose the right theme could mean you will not fully exploit the potential of your brand.
Speed is one of the considerations you have to look at when choosing a theme, so make sure you only go for the themes categorized under “lightweight”. These are designed with good architecture that allows faster loading and caching.
6) Choose a Good Host
Lastly, the host you use also matters. Shared hosting might sound like a good bargain, but the budget you think you are saving could be costing you the speed of your site and probably sales. Therefore, one of the things you need to factor in is hosting with a company that offers you all the tools you need and sufficient bandwidth for the package you pay for.
One of the issues people who have WordPress sites complain about is speed. This is as a result of a number of issues including choosing the wrong host and failure to install caching plug-ins. You need to review the theme you are running to know if its architecture is the reason your WordPress site is slow.
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