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Congratulations on starting your website!
Now it is time to get busy behind the computer and find out a way to improve it. You have to understand that a website needs constant adjustments and changes, and it is not a one-time-only thing.
The same thing goes for website performance. Most people use WordPress as their main website platform.
That is why, in this article, we will focus on all the things that will help you increase your website performance.
If your website is slow, don’t worry, there are plenty of things you can do, so let’s dig a bit deeper.
Compress and Optimize Images
The most significant weight on your website is your images. This means that no matter what kind of site you run, large images can increase your load times.
However, since WordPress is a very beginner-friendly platform, there are a lot of ways you can compress and optimize your images.
The first step is to upload smaller images. Resizing your images will reduce their size and improve your website performance. In other words, there is no point in uploading an image that’s 5000px by 5000px since you can get the same result by uploading an image 500px by 500px.
Additionally, there are many plugins that can help you reduce the size of your images. The most used one is called Smush Image Compression and Optimization and will compress every image on your website and reduce its weight significantly.
Use Caching Plugin
Caching is a very important method that will help you improve load times on your website. Without a caching plugin, every new post or page on your website is retrieved directly from your CSS files and databases. Then a static HTML file is generated from that information that is shown to visitors. As you can see, there are many processes that usually take a lot of time.
By installing a caching plugin, the HTML files are instantly accessible when someone tries to open your website.
The most used caching plugin on WordPress is W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache. They are both very powerful plugins that can improve your website performance.
Declutter Your WordPress Website from Unused Plugins and Themes
We’ve all been there when you download a plugin and see that it doesn’t fit your preference and forget about it. If you don’t use the plugin or make it inactive, it doesn’t mean that it is deleted from your database.
It is important to delete plugins that you don’t use and stick to the essentials. Additionally, you should delete all unused themes that make you vulnerable to hack attacks.
You can use a plugin called Media Cleaner that detects which items on your website are almost never used. That way, you can declutter your website instantly.
Choose a Better Hosting Plan
When it comes to hosting plans, we all want the cheapest option, but unfortunately, that results in a slow-performing website.
There are different types of a host from the shared host (cheapest and slowest) to dedicated servers (extremely fast). Depending on the traffic and type of website, you should choose the best one for you.
If you want better performance, it is important to invest in a good hosting provider. Just like if you are a top coach in the National Basketball Association, you know your team needs to invest in BetAmerica’s best NBA power forwards to score those rebounds and take you to greater heights.
You never know if you find the next Tim Duncan, but you know that if you don’t invest you won’t get results. Similar thing with the hosting plan: if you go for the option that costs more, the return will likely be better in a long term.
It is important to understand that most of the issue with a slow-performing website is due to the host.
So, even if you try all of the methods above, you won’t make a noticeable difference to your website speed.
You need to upgrade to a more performance-oriented host like cloud hosting or VPN hosting.
Final Words
By following the tips we mentioned above, you’ll improve your WordPress speed significantly. Make sure you go for a minimalistic design approach and include as few elements and media files as possible. Only that way, you’ll have a fast performing website capable of reaching loading times lower than two seconds.
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