How to speed up a WordPress website
The site
speed affects your bounce rates, conversions, page rank, and overall user
experience.
Find out 11 simple ways to speed up a WordPress website! Using reliable web hosting is one of the factors that impact site speed, so build your WordPress website today with Hostinger web hosting
So, here are 11 simple ways to speed up your
WordPress website:
1. Pick a Reliable Hosting Plan
Shared hosting will work well for a personal
site or one with relatively low traffic. But, if it is an eCommerce site,
hosting plans with dedicated resources like VPS and cloud hosting may be better
options.
2. Choose the Closest Server Location
The further the server is located from your
target audience, the longer your site takes to load, especially if it contains
lots of animations and videos.
3. Use a Content Delivery Network
CDN is a group of servers spread out across
many locations worldwide. When a user visits a website, the content will be
loaded from the closest server, improving the load time.
4. Deliver Content Over HTTP/2
This communication protocol allows developers
to set which content should load first, lets browsers load different types of
content in a single connection and uses a compression format that shortens the
load time.
5. Choose an Optimized WordPress Theme
An optimized WordPress theme should be
lightweight, compatible with various browsers, mobile responsive, AMP-ready,
and have well-optimized code.
6. Optimize Your Images
Optimize all images before uploading them to
your site. You can also enable lazy loading to further increase the speed.
7. Update the WordPress Core, Plugins, and
Themes
Outdated software, plugins, and themes can
slow down or even break your site – and expose your site to security
vulnerabilities.
8. Uninstall Deactivated Plugins
If you have plugins that you no longer use,
completely delete them from WordPress. The fewer plugins you have, the lighter
and faster your WordPress site will be.
9.Minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Files
Remove unnecessary characters, like line
breaks and comments, from the code of these three types of files. This method
can shrink file sizes from around 40 to 60%, making it one of the easiest and
most effective ways to speed up a WordPress website.
10. Use the Latest PHP Version
Updating PHP will improve your site’s
performance and overall security. But first, check your site's compatibility
with the latest PHP version and test it in a staging environment to minimize
risks.
11. Optimize the WordPress Database
Optimize your WordPress database using
phpMyAdmin or a WordPress database plugin.
