{"id":1560,"date":"2018-07-05T05:59:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T05:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/govinddas.com\/?p=1560"},"modified":"2018-07-05T11:20:26","modified_gmt":"2018-07-05T11:20:26","slug":"optimize-speed-wordpress-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/govinddas.com\/index.php\/optimize-speed-wordpress-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimize and Speed Up WordPress Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Nutshell<\/span><\/h2>\n

Slow load times don\u2019t only create a bad impression about your site to your visitors,\u00a0it\u2019s also bad for your SEO<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can monitor the current load times of your site by performing\u00a0Pingdom\u2019s Site Speed Test<\/a>. A load time of under 3 seconds is decent, under 2 seconds is impressive, and even less is blazing fast!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"techtage-loading-speed\"<\/span><\/p>\n

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You can also find useful information about your site\u2019s current performance and areas in which it can improve by testing your site in\u00a0Google PageSpeed Insights<\/a>. Remember, a good PageSpeed score isn\u2019t always the best possible thing for your site,\u00a0an unbelievably tiny load time is<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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WordPress, as a platform, is extremely well coded. However, some people mess their WordPress installations up by installing tons of low-quality plugins, choosing an awful web host, and filling their site with heaps of\u00a0garbage<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0don\u2019t do something as stupid as these with your site, there\u2019s still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to speeding up your WordPress site. I optimize around 8-10 WordPress sites in an average month, and there are a few techniques\u00a0I always leverage to optimize and speed up WordPress sites.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few ways (some well-known, some not) you can improve the performance of your \u00a0WordPress sites:<\/span><\/p>\n

#1: Choose A\u00a0Good Web Host<\/span><\/h2>\n

You can think of optimizing your WordPress site only after you surely know that\u00a0it\u2019s not your host that\u2019s slowing down your site<\/em>. Recently, I\u2019ve been optimizing a site which was hosted on GoDaddy, which is, of course, one of the most horrible hosts out there that puts thousands of sites on a single shared server. As a result, their servers are damn slow. You have to make sure\u00a0you don\u2019t make these mistakes while choosing a web<\/a>\u00a0host that most beginners make.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like I always recommend, go visit some community like WebHostingTalk that\u2019s filled with Web Hosting enthusiasts. Read some genuine reviews of the host you were planning to go with, before\u00a0actually going with them<\/em>. I came to know about\u00a0MDDHosting<\/a>, the host that we\u2019re on since 2011, from WebHostingTalk. And I thank myself everyday for doing some actual research instead of going with\u00a0just another crappy top-10 \u2018unlimited everything\u2019 host<\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read my\u00a0MDDHosting Review<\/a>\u00a0to know how a great web host can benefit you and save you hassles in the long run.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you wish to receive WordPress-specific support from your host, you can try a managed WordPress host.\u00a0WPEngine<\/a>\u00a0is a fast growing reputable host that specializes in WordPress hosting. More \u201cwell-known\u201d options include\u00a0BlueHost<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0InMotion Hosting<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

#2: Use A Fast Theme\/Framework<\/span><\/h2>\n

You need to start with a fast and well-coded WordPress theme or framework. If you choose a theme packed with lots of additional features that you don\u2019t need, it\u2019ll negatively impact your site performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"How-Fast-is-Fast\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Last time I dealt with a heavy theme and framework, I had to put in more than 8 hours to optimize YooTheme\u2019s Subway theme, to make it faster and improve the load time of the site from 5.5 seconds to 1.8 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re a total code-illiterate, don\u2019t choose a theme that allows you to change everything directly from the theme options, making your job easy. Generally,\u00a0it also makes the job harder<\/em>\u00a0for your web server and browser. Too much PHP, JavaScript, Iframe isn\u2019t good for your site\u2019s speed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The default WordPress themes are incredibly well-coded, light-weight, very fast and easily customizable. If you can handle a little bit of code or hire a developer, choose one of those to build something great on top of them. I tweaked the default WordPress Twenty Thirteen theme for this site and it\u2019s getting the job done very well.<\/span><\/p>\n

#3:\u00a0Install A Caching Plugin<\/span><\/h2>\n

The second most effective way (the first being choosing a good web host) to improve your site\u2019s load times is to install a caching plugin. As soon as you install a plugin like\u00a0W3 Total Cache<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0WP Super Cache<\/a>, you\u2019ll be able to tell that your site loads faster.<\/span><\/p>\n

In simple words, when a caching plugin is active on your site, it servers users cached copies of your pages. It greatly reduces MySQL database access, no. of PHP requests, server access for static resources, and even HTTP requests (in case of combining multiple files into one).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"W3<\/span><\/p>\n

W3 Total Cache is one my most favourite WordPress plugins. It offers a variety of caching features:<\/span><\/p>\n