WordPress has long been one of the most popular and versatile content management systems on the internet. However, when it comes to Improve WordPress Speed, speed and performance are not always guaranteed. In this blog post I’ll share my tips for quickening improve WordPress speed without having to know how to code!
At this point you’re probably wondering what’s to stop someone with no coding skills from taking advantage of these techniques. The answer? Nothing. The best part is that anyone can use these techniques overnight by simply following a few simple steps: increasing cache and Javascript loading speeds, reducing caching times, redirecting old links away from your site, and using browser caching plugins like WP Super Cache or WP Rocket. This means that anyone with a little patience (and a little time on their hands) can fully implement these tips.
With that being said, let’s get right to it!
Here are 12 Tips To Improve WordPress Speed Without Coding Skills.
- Put Scripts At The Bottom
Using scripts to optimize your site? Place them below the body content so they don’t block anything from loading first (body content, images, CSS, and other scripts). PageSpeed Insights is a great tool for finding the bottlenecks in your site’s file loading sequence and giving you some easy fixes. These scripts can include: jQuery plugins and themes like Revolution Slider or Thrive Content Builder; Google Analytics; Wordfence Security; Jetpack by WordPress.com; Contact Form 7; and Google Fonts.
- Use Browser Caching Plug-ins
Browser caching plugins like WP Super Cache, WP Rocket, & PageSpeed Insights work wonders on Improve WordPress Speed. These plug-ins are perfect for sites that have a lot of content (especially blog posts) and/or a lot of media (videos, images).
3. Use Redirects To Speed Up Your Site’s Performance
If you want to get the most out of improve WordPress speed, redirect old links away from your site and use browser cache plugins to speed up your page loading times even more! This will help avoid the back and forth traffic that can slow down the loading time of different pages on your website. A quick Google search will show you some free redirect plugins that can help you out.
- Use Optimized WordPress Settings
You can reduce the amount of time it takes for your website to load by using some of the optimized WordPress settings from W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache. Using a plugin like W3 Total Cache, you can keep database queries to a minimum by placing your cache files at the root level (not inside the wp-content folder). These files are especially helpful if your site is getting a lot of traffic. This way you don’t have to reload all of your site’s pages every time someone visits so your site will remain faster between visits.
- Optimize Image Size And Compression
Optimized images will help lessen the load on your server by making the files more compact, thus reducing the time it takes for them to download. Use any one of the many Photoshop plugins like Optimizilla to optimize your images and save some time in the process. (And remember to use compression plugins like Imagify and TinyPNG to further decrease your image size and speed up load times!)
- Use A Content Delivery Network (CDN) To Improve WordPress Speed
The best way to do this is by using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) that has servers located all over the world and delivers content from whichever location is closest. A CDN works by caching your website’s static files on the nearest server to your visitor’s location so that when they request that same file again, it’s delivered from a server very close by. This is great for pages with lots of code, because if you only have one server and it happens to be located in Georgia then the time it takes to load could increase dramatically if someone trying to access the file is located in New York. A CDN will help reduce the time it takes for someone in New York to load a page on your site (and vice versa).
- Use Image Sprites To Decrease File Size
A sprite is a single image that has all of your site’s icons and buttons contained within. A great technique for saving file size is to use an image sprite that includes all of your site’s images and then only displays the first one each time a visitor clicks on an individual icon or button. This will help save you some space by limiting the amount of data needed from your server. The only downside to this method is that your site will take slightly longer to load because it has to load all of its images at once. On the other hand, this technique increases page speed for those visitors who are looking at a particular image on your page (like the home page). Here’s an example of how WordPress can use a sprite:
- Decrease File Size For Media Files
Images and videos are the biggest culprits when it comes to slowing down your site’s load times. The best way to optimize media files is by using plugins like Imagify, EWWW Image Optimizer, and TinyPNG. These plugins will help you to insert a small, hidden image inside of the larger file that will be used for compression (so that it can be optimized without having to resave the file). This way you can decrease your image size while preserving quality. Don’t forget that reducing quality on an image (by lowering the dpi) can also help decrease the size of an image file! That’s right… it’s possible to get a smaller image file for the same, or even better quality.
- Minify CSS & JavaScript Files
Like media files, CSS and JavaScript files can slow down page speed by loading at the beginning of your site when someone visits. Minifying the size of these files can help reduce charges on your server and will increase overall speed. Also remember that using a plugin like UnderscoreJS Minification will compress all of your JavaScript files (and even minify them as well). I highly recommend checking out all of the plugins mentioned above as they are very helpful in speeding up your site.
- Optimize Your .htaccess File
The .htaccess file is a folder that controls the configuration of your website. This file can be used to compress and optimize static files (like media and CSS files) so that they are loaded separately from other site content (like posts, pages, and comments). You can use this file to set a lot of different options like: controlling your cache rules; making sure your robots.txt file follows certain rules; and telling search engines not to index certain folders or files.
- Keep Your Plugins Updated
Plugins are a great way to add features and functionality to your WordPress website… but they can also be one of the biggest causes of speed issues when they aren’t kept up-to-date. Be sure to keep your plugins updated, even if you think that everything is running fine on your site. These updates will help improve your site’s overall performance and security (it’s quite possible that a plugin you’re using is vulnerable). I recommend adding the CodeSniffer WordPress Plugin from WordPress.org which will automatically update your plugins when new versions come out. This way you’ll always know when there’s a new version available!
- Disable Third Party Scripts
Third party scripts, like Facebook and Twitter widgets, are often a cause for slow loading on your website. These scripts do not belong on your site and can slow down your site’s performance by overriding the functionality of your WordPress site. If possible, it may be best to remove the offending third-party scripts from your site altogether.
The overall performance of a WordPress website depends a lot on how you optimize themes, plugins, images and media files as well as how you use SEO to improve page ranking. The best way to improve the performance and speed of your website is to make it as simple for search engine bots as possible. Optimizing your .htaccess file, disabling third-party scripts, changing your caching rules, minifying CSS and JavaScript, and using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) will all help to maintain a fast loading site.
I hope that these suggestions help you as you work to improve your WordPress website. If you have any other tips for Improve WordPress Speed then please share them in the comments section below.
Want more WordPress articles like this? Check out our other increase WordPress Speed Blogs!
