Research<\/a> show that a 1-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7% and lead to a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve been working with WordPress, you\u2019ve probably installed several plugins and themes and have hundreds or thousands of images. All could be slowing down your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which is probably why you\u2019re reading this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article, we begin by covering some of the factors that affect website speed and then move on to some actionable tips to speed up your website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll also install a WordPress plugin that helps reduce page load times significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gone in 8 seconds! That\u2019s what reports suggest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reports<\/a> suggest that the human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds today, which is a second lower than a goldfish!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why is this important?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It means you have 8 seconds to convince your audience to stay. Make them wait for just a second longer, and you\u2019ve just lost a potential customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another report<\/a> also suggests that with every 100ms in load time, Amazon loses 1% in revenue. That is approximately $3.8 billion per 100ms!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Page speed is also a critical search engine ranking factor. Google penalizes slow websites, which is reason enough to tackle it on its own.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not sure if you\u2019ve been impacted?\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider using rank tracking software<\/a> to watch your keyword positions and better understand your search engine trends and you might be surprised.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n With more than 50% of website traffic<\/a> coming from mobile, you must ensure your website is not only responsive but loads fast on mobile devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Google prioritizes websites that load faster on mobile. It\u2019s called Mobile-first Indexing <\/a>and it\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bounce rate on mobile devices increases by 32% if there\u2019s a delay between 1s and 3s. This goes all the way to 123% if there\u2019s a delay of up to 10 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n As far as accessing shopping sites on mobile devices is concerned, even a second delay can impact conversions by up to 20%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, is website speed important for mobile devices? We definitely think so!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are several options to check the speed of your WordPress website and they are free to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ones we recommend are Google\u2019s PageSpeed Insights<\/a> and GTmetrix<\/a>. These tools analyze your website content and generate suggestions on how to make pages load faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, we carried out a page speed test on our website \u2013 hasthemes.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n Simply enter the URL and click on Analyze. And we get a 97.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s not a 100, but it is excellent. There\u2019s always room for improvement though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you scroll through the report, you\u2019ll notice a section named Opportunities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n Want to get that perfect 100? Address the suggestions under opportunities and you should be on your way! <\/p>\n\n\n\n We carried the test on GTmetrix, too, and here\u2019s the performance report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n We\u2019ve achieved a page load speed of 1.3 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings us to an important question. What is a good page load speed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reports<\/a> suggest that if your site loads in under 2.9 seconds, you are faster than 50% of other websites. It also states that if your site loads in under 1.7 seconds and 0.8 seconds, your website is faster than 75% and 94% of the web, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While a faster website is always better, anything under 2 seconds is a good speed to aim for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the prime reasons for slow websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Web Hosting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It starts with your web hosting provider<\/a>. Hosting your WordPress website on a slow or shared hosting server is a common reason why it doesn\u2019t load fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do you verify if your web server is slow? Check WordPress site speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights<\/a> and GTmetrix<\/a>. These tools analyze performance and highlight<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you run a test, if the \u2018Reduce initial server response time\u2019 metric comes up, you\u2019ll know that your server is slowing down your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using a reliable hosting service provider will help with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No Proper Caching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Caching is when copies of your web page, files, and data are stored in temporary storage, or cache. When someone accesses your website, rather than WordPress building pages from scratch, copies of the pages are stored in the cache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These copies are sent directly to the visitor, which results in faster page loading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the right WordPress caching plugin<\/a>, your site\u2019s loading speed improves dramatically!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unoptimized Images<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another common reason for websites to load slowly is due to large images. While it may be tempting to have high-resolution images on your website, it affects page load speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poorly Coded Plugins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If WordPress plugins haven\u2019t been coded properly, they can negatively impact your website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The quality of the plugins you use is vital and can have a genuine impact on website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Too Many Server Requests<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that a separate server request is sent for every image, CSS, and Javascript file on a page? <\/p>\n\n\n\n While you can use a caching plugin and image optimization plugins, it\u2019s more a question of planning what\u2019s required and what\u2019s not on your website.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n By carefully minimizing requests, you can speed up page load times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Badly Coded Scripts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you include external scripts on your website? Scripts for banner advertisements or tracking code for social media?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you are writing code yourself or including some third-party code into your website, ensure that the code is optimized. Codes that aren\u2019t well written can often impact your website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that we\u2019ve covered the common factors that slow down your website, let\u2019s look at some tips to speed it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are tried and tested tips, and we are confident that they will help you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start by running a speed test as we did above. This helps you understand where your website stands now. Run one now and one after you complete these steps to see how much it has improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We covered this earlier when we ran the test using tools such as GTmetrix<\/a> and Google PageSpeed Insights<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other popular tools include Pingdom<\/a>, Google Mobile Website Speed Testing Tool<\/a>, WebPageTest<\/a>, KeyCDN Website Speed Test<\/a>, and DareBoost<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it is the core WordPress software, or the plugins and themes, keeping them up-to-date is crucial for the smooth running of your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Updates bring out the latest that WordPress, a plugin, or a theme has to offer. Without having them updated, you may run into compatibility issues. Which, in turn, impacts your page load speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Updates can also bring code improvements and other optimizations, which can also improve page load times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While most themes look great, it\u2019s a classic case of not judging the book by its cover. Some themes are written better than others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you look for a WordPress theme<\/a>, consider one that loads fast and is fully optimized for speed and performance. Just because it looks great doesn\u2019t mean that your site will load fast!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are several free themes available in the WordPress ecosystem. One free theme that loads in under 0.5 seconds is the Astra<\/a> theme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s a lightweight and hugely popular WordPress theme that is optimized for speed and performance. Astra needs less than 50 KB of resources as compared to the 300KBs+ required by other WordPress themes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no doubt that page builders such as Elementor<\/a>, Beaver Builder<\/a>, Brizy<\/a> and others offer an easy way to build websites. WordPress\u2019s default editor, the Gutenberg block editor, may not have the power or flexibility of a page builder, it\u2019s much faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, while you can create pages easily with page builders, you can build faster pages with Gutenberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does it really make sense to have themes and plugins installed if you\u2019re not using them? Removing unwanted plugins and themes has a minimal effect on reducing the page load time, but it\u2019s still a useful exercise<\/p>\n\n\n\n Removing the unwanted themes and plugins is pretty straightforward. But, would you like to install a plugin that allows you to, in turn, disable plugins for specific pages and posts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We recommend installing the WP Plugin Manager<\/a> WordPress plugin for this. It helps manage themes, plugins and WordPress<\/a> processes on each page, to help improve performance across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n The plugin works with any WordPress theme and makes your website load much faster!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of space and bandwidth is taken up by audio and video files. Plus, while media may play fine, uploading audio and video files can drastically decrease your page load speed and negatively impact website performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The more efficient way to go about this is by using hosting platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, and others. Simply upload the file, copy the URL, and embed the link on your page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you know that lots of processes happen in the background of WordPress?<\/p>\n\n\n\n They include backup tasks and cron jobs for sending out emails. Additionally, they handle publishing scheduled posts and checking for updates. Search engine crawlers also try to index your website content, among other tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While most of these processes are essential, some take up valuable website resources and can slow down page loading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can minimize some of these by scheduling backups for quiet times, scheduling emails to be sent overnight, and managing updates manually during slow traffic periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your WordPress database can accumulate clutter if left unchecked. Periodically cleaning up your database can help reduce its size and improve your website speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can manually clean up your WordPress database through phpMyAdmin. However, we recommend this method only if you are comfortable handling databases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s also WordPress plugins you can use. Plugins such as WP Database Reset<\/a>, WP Database Backup<\/a>, WP-Optimize<\/a>, WP-Sweep<\/a>, and others help keep your database lean and healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A common suggestion that you may come across when you run a speed test using Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix is to remove render-blocking CSS and Javascript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically, when the browser loads a website, queues every script on that page. These scripts are your Javascript and CSS files. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If any script stops your website from loading, they are referred to as render-blocking JavaScript and CSS files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Running the speed test should identify any render-blocking files. You can then use a WordPress plugin, such as Autoptimize<\/a>, Speed Booster Pack<\/a>, or JCH Optimize<\/a>, to remove or optimize them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By minimizing the CSS, HTML<\/a>, and Javascript files, you help boost the performance of your website. Through minification, you are reducing the size of these files, which helps them load faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is achieved by reducing the unwanted code in the files, or minifying them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minifying files involves removing unwanted characters, line breaks, comments, and other unwanted elements in the code. The smaller the file, the faster they load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plugins such as Autoptimize<\/a> and JCH Optimize<\/a> help to minify code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you must have images on your website, it\u2019s equally important to optimize them. Heavy images are one of the most common reasons for slow page load speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use WordPress plugins such as Smush<\/a> to compress, lazy load, and optimize your images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similar to lazy loading images, it helps to lazy load long content pages too.. By delaying the content you don\u2019t see from loading, the content you see renders much faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Popular WordPress plugins to lazy load pages include WordPress Infinite Scroll \u2013 Ajax Load More<\/a>, WP Ajax Load More Pagination, and Infinite Scroll<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Comments indicate how well your content is resonating with your audience. While it\u2019s nice to receive many comments, it can also slow your page down considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By restricting the number of comments per page, you can reduce the time to load. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest way to go about doing this is under Settings > Discussions > Other comment settings<\/strong>, in your WordPress dashboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The default number would be set to 50. Lower this and see how much faster pages load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice those excerpts on your homepage and archive pages? Do they display the entire article, or are they the shortened version?<\/p>\n\n\n\n By displaying the entire article on your homepage, blog, categories, and other archive pages, you\u2019ll end up slowing down your page. Not to mention, it doesn\u2019t help the user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simplest solution is to display excerpts of the content. Have just about enough content displayed to create a sense of curiosity and engage your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WordPress is built using PHP so you should always have the latest PHP version installed on your server. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that most hosting providers ensure that it\u2019s done for you. However, it\u2019s always a good practice to periodically check the PHP version being used using cPanel or phpMyAdmin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By using a CDN, you are ensuring your website loads faster by using a server that\u2019s located closest to the visitor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CDN servers store copies of your pages across their network and will use the copy closest to the user. This speeds up page loading for that user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check to see if your hosting provider has CDN support. You could also consider services such as Cloudflare<\/a>, MaxCDN<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WP Plugin Manager<\/a> is a plugin that allows you to deactivate plugins for specific pages or posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t have to load all plugins for every single page as not all of them are relevant. What if you could deactivate the plugins on select pages or posts? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The plugin still exists on your website, does the job that it\u2019s required to, but doesn\u2019t impact the page load time on pages it isn\u2019t needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKey Takeaways:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nWhy is Speed Important for Your Website?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Speed](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/0AHIJSAJJCFn3-V5HsbSsqn1jrRDjYEZtkCowJKKYLTIX9pbei_KlJWm_yeSZZGfnDni0ZkSc33th70ePhN2BgJPdMwQfXSjrZBYXxRCli0a_P0eXZH5LuXIlJvcDzVm8TRK4Y-1\" "\\"Average")
Is Website Speed Important for Mobile Devices?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"page](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/F6H44Rx4qJ4cPR-BBHvsQ4s9Vrw8JueMyKIiRW60zm3WSKMTU9bCAd-4iUgoh7S4cBMhNpX9xStEVUgyP2DhlOMJHoDL7w-OZ2RxOsEGNlY2cuaFMEf0ZtGfvi9TKMPQ8oULGQ4Z\" "\\"Page")
How to Check Your WordPress Website Speed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/M-BTe3NPNewnGnySxc27ExW2q4C2FrqkfJlnzWPTkR-czGFLTA6ILQvbk9omFQ_JrL_tEaaNMTTa47SPa-cL1H64JtJn6GgWl5EBFX4a9k6_TuOXfIQTQXThRFL0O5Jf6i7W5ZnB\" "\\"Google\u2019s")
![\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/i6uWaZnK1PkUKvdiPv9ckFQCm1VBShFwuBXjRp0qYHsQm9Fe02hf-iYzdOIyG8xRML1RkbCUnd2Fu8y7xuheCMiSuhkUSS3pgPG4bXxuFUhGRLERTsJwzys11X6oBf6FGQiq8I-o\" "\\"Google\u2019s")
![\"Opportunities\"](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/GfcVra-8Dc6pv7gf7lGpvNgg0Mo7qEqFlYhSc8dQuNlkxZ--6Ohnhp5kdcDhQjmEtiTC7JNP2zH1po0eCP1GcIxvm3qz7FwK68YgVl5r_2p6yBxDtYpzCNumU5HZLeUwVIq2lPzF\" "\\"Opportunities")
![\"GTmetrix](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/8upRsRVhvE4e1imx1ZsJrtfFIUOZKxW6Pr1kDz8U6RGwOFbffMO0R98I4TXwiTWvMlISfFRYwFGpn7-l-YM2BdWNVIj2c1932o_NpoYz3m6l4hqu4FGV_ap1eZ16Ok-fl1CIy1n2\" "\\"GTmetrix")
Factors That Slow Down Your WordPress Website<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
16 Simple Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress Website<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Run a Website Speed Test<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Keep WordPress Updated<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Install a WordPress Theme Optimized For Speed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Astra](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/rHaES48lnFD8LZ9kKTcsPXFAHTfDvplJF_MaL1CXx5qoitHt2yAUMorXhDtrhxA6SoYTQvt3iyKDJUrOmWi2-t-Nwsw8-ggKkOSHTiAi5MgRw3r1_difwHlFwasAa7ZeUrpu_McE\" "\\"Astra")
4. Use Gutenberg Instead of Page Builders<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Delete Unwanted Plugins and Themes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"wp](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/srBE-K42BT5PGrKObOE_edDQWo7sqEmFUA_GvKJrDz3mLer_LcgijHsdiqJ6o6K9KhJYnDGHCJj7HnJG_l0ushBSJGkoxoK1oj26ekhQyCYj_durCA2NrEJfjCVbG6vod9gBaL1K\" "\\"WP")
6. Avoid Uploading Audio and Video Files Directly to WordPress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Optimize Background Processes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Clean Up Your Database<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Remove Render-Blocking Javascript and CSS Files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Minify CSS, HTML, and Javascript<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
11. Optimize Images<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"smuxh](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/nQvjev91FxNluWtVb0SCWYGEB4XBCudjQrmXg11kXKCS2uNHEgMwTIJqUWGf4sff3TZmJe1Wqc7N15nATegpx8wnRFvAoy4GZooFRO6qYEpfVVXOQ1q84YCMVxvxlUVHyvhgwzZO\" "\\"Smush")
12. Lazy-Load Pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
13. Limit Comments Per Page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
14. Use Excerpts on Homepage and Archives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
15. Run the Latest Version of PHP<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
16. Use a CDN<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Speed Up WordPress Website Using WP Plugin Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"wordpress](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/Ofs8U8H4NrFjPe9o7S3Gy8avDDgtalxpims2DhOe4SUbh3VHHobPculiihH7hvjjrqRrr1b3b3va2nFKjlJYVtj-MJyO9qqKUoI5RB4hZEwgP9KUrqXG89Ge1cJY_46Ix-3fT5Xy\" "\\"Latest")
![\"author\"](\"https:\/\/hasthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/author.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n