WordPress Website Speed Optimization
Have you been to a store with a long line at the checkout and changed your mind about completing your purchase? You are not the only one who has felt that way and done so. Customers want quick transactions while shopping online just like they do in the physical world. With nearly every business competing for the top spots in the search engines, the competition to capture your customer’s attention has increased immensely. However, only a few websites ever succeed in doing so. If you’ve ever wonder what you might be doing wrong, the answer usually has to do with poor page loading speed. Let’s explore some do it yourself WordPress website speed optimization techniques that will help to make sure your website performs well and attracts the leads that will allow your business to grow online.
Website Speed Optimization – An Overview
Website speed optimization enhances your website’s page loading by working on various front-end and back-end element optimizations. Many factors, including the website’s structure, heavy visual aids, poor coding, and external plugins, contribute to poor page loading times. While these elements may not show obvious red flags, ignoring them reduces the amount of traffic your website receives.
We will look at some effective WordPress page speed optimization tips to help you improve your website’s conversion rate.
Tips to Enhance Your WordPress Website’s Loading Speed
Avoid Using Shared Hosting
Your web hosting service has much to do with your page loading time. Many business owners opt for shared web hosting to cut down and reduce web hosting costs. While it may seem like a great plan, shared hosting servers can potentially slow down page loading times. Shared servers allow multiple websites to use the same hosting space simultaneously.
When visitors open your website, the crowded shared hosting server may sometimes take too long to load web pages. According to Google’s engineers, even an increase in website loading time of as little as 0.4 seconds can have an adverse effect on site traffic. That short 0.4 second delay is long enough for many search engine users to decide against using your website and go elsewhere. You probably don’t want to lose your potential customers due to poor hosting service, and when presented in that light it is easy to see how saving money on hosting will cost you money in conversions. Consider opting for a VPS (virtual private server) or a dedicated hosting plan in order to speed up your page loading time and grow your business.
Remove Heavy WordPress Plugins
When developing a business website, you may inadvertently add too many WordPress plugins to enhance your website’s functionality. While some may add value to it, others may end up weighing your website down. External plugins and widgets take time to load when a user pulls up your website. Removing unnecessary and inefficient plugins from your WordPress business website may significantly improve your page loading time.
If you are unsure about which plugins you want to keep, it would be wise to consult an website optimization expert in your area to enhance your page loading speed. You might also want to do a little research on the plugins that your website is using and then evaluate the pros and cons of each before deciding to keep them a part of your website.
Review Third-Party Ads
Ad placement can help you generate more revenue from your website. However, some ads may contribute to a slow site speed, and be hurting your website’s performance and ability to rank well within the search engines more than the income they generate is worth. Third-party ad banners may take too long to load. This is especially true for video-based ads. You can quickly enhance your website’s page speed by filtering out un-necessary or underperforming third-party ads.
A helpful tool is Google’s Page Speed Insights. There you can enter your website’s URL and get information crucial to analyzing each ad’s space on your WordPress site. If you do not want to get rid of third-party advertising, consider replacing them with better, more optimized alternatives.
Avoid Using Fancy Website Themes
Some websites have too much animation and other visual aids, all of which take time to load. Although the catchy web design may grab the visitor’s attention, there is no point in having it if the visitor never sticks around long enough to appreciate it. Regardless of your web design preferences, consider opting for a simpler WordPress theme, one that avoid the unnecessary content that slows the loading time of your website.
Graphics-intensive websites have various elements that take up a lot of server space. By revamping your website, and reducing the un-necessary clutter you gain additional traffic and access to new potential customers. If you are not a tech savvy person, you may choose pre-built website templates from various online platforms to kick-start your new WordPress website.
Test Your Website’s Mobile Responsiveness
Over the past decade, smartphone users have rapidly increased worldwide. Nearly 60 percent of mobile users expect websites to load within three seconds. Most smartphone users look up websites on the go to find business information and product details. If your website lacks mobile responsiveness and is not mobile friendly, you may be missing out on a huge chunk of potential web visitors.
Some websites redirect users to the desktop version, making it challenging to navigate through landing pages. Non-responsive website versions usually take longer to load when compared to their responsive counterparts. You can identify if your website is losing mobile visitors by tracking your traffic paths in Google Analytics. Consider seeking expert responsive web development services in your area for more assistance in this regard.
Need Help with Page Speed Optimization?
The WordPress website speed optimization tips mentioned above can help you enhance your website’s performance and increase conversions. While you can work around most factors yourself, it may be a good idea to seek out technical assistance with optimizing some elements of your WordPress business website. Optimization experts at Web Development Done Right can take the burden off your shoulders while you focus on expanding your business in the competitive market.
